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WALTER C 



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MOUSE. WHICH STOOD FOR SEVERAL CENTURIES 
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RELERECTfcD NEAR THE V/esTGATE J^OO. 




OLD CANTERBURY 



Walter Cozens. 



Canterbunj : 

Cross & Jackman, Printers. 
1906. 

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL 



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CONTENTS. 






PAGE. 


Chapter I. Prehistoric 


I 


II. The Main Street 


13 


III. Old Dover Road 


28 


,, IV. Round about the City . . 


38 


,, V. Side Lights . . 


56 


„ VI. Changes in a Life-time . . 


69 


„ VII. Ancient City Plans . . 


92 


Sub-divisions of Chapter VII. 




Bird's Eye View 


92 


Mr. G. Smith's Plan 


101 


Black Friars' Estate 


106 


Canterbury and Neighbourhood 


108 


Cherry Garden Plan 


1 10 


Canterbury Cathedral, A.D. 950 . „ 


1 10 


Sites of Monastic Buildings 


113 


Plan of Canterbury Cathedral 


116 


Index 


119 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 




" Old Canterbury," house front . . Front 


ispicce. 


Section through Canterbury . . faces p 


age 3 


Order of Strata . . . . . . „ 


»> 9 


37 High Street 


„ 18 


Mr. Pollard's House Front . . . . faces 


» 23 


Old Forge House 


» 37 


Saxon Arch . . . . . . . . faces 


»> 44 


Interior " Old Canterbury " house . , faces 


v 87 



PREFACE. 



rpHERE is a time in the lives of most men and 
more women when the veriest trivialities are 
not only pleasing but act upon the system as 
healing balm. To enjoy life, work is a necessity, 
and there is nothing much truer than the state- 
ment that " he is most miserable who has nothing 
to do." I well remember a gentleman, who having 
retired in Canterbury from a successful London 
business, on more than one occasion begging me 
to find him some work in my office, which he 
would gladly do without payment for a few 
hours every day. (To thoroughly understand a 
builder's business is the business of a life-time, 
and those who have not been apprenticed to it 
are not likely to find much in it but trouble and 
vexation.) My private opinion is that this good 
man died for want of employment at least thirty 
years before he need have done. Some men have 
to " kill " time, which is indeed a strange expres- 
sion to those who lead a life of happiness simply 
through finding so much to do for other people 
while doing what is necessary for themselves. 

It is for those who love Old Canterbury, and 
have time on their hands to think over its associa- 
tions with the past, that I have in so very crude a 
manner put down the few facts that are recorded 
in this small publication. The young care not 
for these things ; life is too full for them ; the 
present and the future occupy their thoughts, but 
the day may dawn when anything about the old 
city will deeply interest them. Having since 1875 
been engaged in building operations and excava- 



PREFACE. 

tions in various parts of the city, the men under 
my direction have brought to light much that has 
been of interest to me and to many others. 

On several occasions I have been requested to 
lecture on Old Canterbury, not only in the city 
itself but in adjacent towns, and afterwards have 
been told that it would be well if such an account 
could be permanently recorded. Knowing that 
unless published, manv facts would be entirely 
forgotten, I have ventured to put down, in the 
following pages, some of the most interesting 
reminiscences that occur to me, but must be candid 
in stating that for obvious reasons some of the names 
and the localities have been obscured or altered, 
in the interest of present occupiers. What I have 
to tell will not be found in the useful city guides, 
and this small work is in no way intended to take 
the place of a guide book. 

Objects of interest having at different times 
been brought to me, it has been on my mind for 
many years to establish a small museum in which 
they could be examined by any who care for the 
relics of the past, and haA'ing now to remove an 
old house that was probably built in the fourteenth 
century, the oak timbers of which are in a remark- 
ably sound state of preservation, I have determined 
to save this old relic from destruction, and re-erec\ 
it. A suitable site has been secured at the cornei 
of the Station Road near the Westgate, and there 
the old oak gables, joists and rafters, quaint king 
post and other timbers can be seen in all their 
original strength and simple beauty. The numbers 
shown in brackets in the following" pages corres- 
pond with the actual objects referred to, and they can 
be seen under the genuine open roof of oak that 
has stood so many years in our midst, unseen and 
unknown. 



PREFACE. 

I take this opportunity of acknowledging my 
indebtedness to a large number of friends who 
have in various ways assisted me in the accumu- 
lation of detail and objects of interest, to those 
who have lent blocks for illustration or allowed me 
to give descriptions of premises in which they are 
concerned. 

The soil of Canterbury is particularly rich in 
remains of past centuries of life and civilisation. 
In almost every part of the city proper, excava- 
tions show signs of habitation, and anywhere 
w r ithin a few hundred yards of the outer side of 
the city wall the soil yields cinerary urns of 
Roman, Saxon, and of Ancient British make, not 
many feet below the surface. Much has been 
found, but probably very much more remains to 
be discovered. Though this little work may be 
disappointing to those who expect it to tell of 
buried treasure, it has served its purpose if, in its 
perusal, some have whiled away a pleasant hour 
or two. 

W. Cozens. 



OLD CANTERBURY, 



CHAPTER I. 

PRE-HISTORIC. 



A LTHOUGH Canterbury stands partly on the 
~^- chalk formation, which is the principal feature of 
the great geological system known as the Cretaceous 
(Latin Cr da-chalk), the Tertiaries assert themselves 
on the northern and western sides, as may be seen 
in the accompanying diagram, which roug'hly repre- 
sents a section some three miles long from the 
Dover Road on the left to St. Thomas' Hill on the 
Whitstable Road to the right. Not drawn to scale, 
it is simply intended to show that from the south 
bank of the river Stour, the chalk appears, and rises 
two-hundred-and-fifty feet above the river level, in 
many cases with but a few inches of soil to cover it. 
Below the river the incline still continues, and the 
chalk, within half-a-mile of the north bank of the 
river has dipped so much that sixty feet of the 
Tertiaries must be dug through to find it. From 
King's Bridge, every step towards the Old Dover 
Road is an ascent, gentle, but so persistent that the 
railway metals below the bridge are found by the 
Ordnance Survey to be level with the door sill of 
St. Dunstan's church. 

In sinking the shafts at the Dover Colliery and 
in boring experimentally for coal at points between 
Dover and Canterbury, next below the chalk is found 



2 OLD CANTERBURY. 

the system of Jurassic rocks, and it is presumed 
that the correct geological order obtains beneath us 
here. It is in this strata that fossil remains of those 
gigantic dinosaurs and other saurians are found, 
and in the remote ages, we can fancy these enormous 
lizards (a splendid example of which has lately been 
set up at South Kensington Natural History 
Museum, (i) measuring some eighty-four feet in 
length from nose to tip of tail), disporting them- 
selves in the shallow water. These creatures were 
the most colossal that ever trod this earth, the re- 
mains of one found some years ago in the Rockies, 
would have measured when alive a hundred and 
thirty feet in length ; a single thigh bone was over 
six feet long, its teeth proved it to be a carniverous 
monster, and it was asserted at the time, that it 
would require as much as three elephants to satisfy 
its hunger at a meal (2). How thankful we should 
be that climatic changes on the earth were more 
than these terrible beasts could endure ! Too enor- 
mous to adapt themselves to circumstances and too 
stupid to migrate to more congenial latitudes, they 
perished, and were utterly extinct ages before this 
world was made fit and suitable for the habitation 
of mankind. 

This Jurassic system of Limestone rock should 
be of peculiar interest to those who love Old Can- 
terbury, for is not the Cathedral built largely of 
" Caen Stone," are not the polished shafts quarried 
out of Purbeck Marble? "Caen" is an oolite, per- 
haps the finest grain among them all, well adapted 
for internal work, and although it has stood for 
several centuries on the exterior of our noble fane, 
it is suffering severely now, disintegrating fast, and 
probably the increased consumption of coal during 
the last fifty years has much to do with it. There 
are persons, mis-informed, who tell visitors that this 




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PRE-HISTORIC. 3 

stone was brought from France along the Stone 
Street Road to build our Cathedral and Monastic 
Buildings, hence the name " Stone Street! !" May 
be they forget that the Romans were the great road 
makers, and they cut this road centuries before the 
stone was quarried in France for work in this 
country. The name it bears is simply from the fact 
that it was a " paved way," and paved during the 
Roman occupation. In all probability, the stone 
was shipped to Fordwich, and brought in barges to 
the city. (3) Purbeck Marble is another oolite, 
formed of tiny shells, so hard that it takes a good 
polish and has for a thousand years been in great 
demand for the slender shafts, moulded caps and 
bases, in our abbeys, our cathedrals and even of such 
Pagan Fanes (4) as St. Pancras' Church, before the 
days of St. Augustine. Both Caen and Purbeck 
belong to the Jurassic group of rocks, the name in 
each case indicating the locality of the quarry. 

It is common knowledge that all land has been 
repeatedly under water, and it is almost as certain 
that every part now covered by water has been dry 
land. This earth has seen many changes since the 
sun was so large a body as to fill a space equal to 
the orbit of the earth, at which time, the earth was 
thrown off the sun, and many millions of years have 
elapsed since that marvellous event, during which 
time, the slow but sure processes of nature have 
been transforming chaos into the lovely paradise we 
see around us. 

Beneath us is the chalk, and it carries historv 
with it. Chalk is a sedimentary rock, formed only 
in the ocean, and when the waters covered what we 
now know as North Africa, and large portions of 
Europe and Asia, these oceans swarmed with the tiny 
foraminifera, and when they ceased to live, their 
^significant shells covered the ocean floor as a 



4 OLD CANTERBURY. 

white ooze, and in process of time, this ooze became 
chalk. The thickness of the chalk is anything up 
to a thousand feet, and it is supposed by some, that 
the quickest possible time for chalk to form out of 
this ooze, would be at the rate of one inch in four 
hundred years ; so that five million years would be 
required to form the chalk alone. 

So tiny and delicate are the shells of the 
exquisitely pretty foraminifera that it is difficult to 
see their beauty under the microscope, unless great 
care be taken in brushing the shells off the surface 
of the chalk with a sable or other soft brush. 

The typical fossil of the chalk is the well-known 
" Ammonite," which takes its name from its resem- 
blance to the horns on the statue of Jupiter Amnion. 

These molluscs swarmed in the Cretacean seas 
and often attained the size of a cart wheel (5). 

Within a short distance of Canterbury and 
particularly on the south east side, may be seen 
acres of arable land almost hidden by flint stones, 
and wonderment is expressed that there is soil 
enough for any corn to grow between the stones ! 
However, it does grow, and good crops are harvested 
in spite of the stones. It is said, that the ground 
being thus protected, the sun is not able so quickly 
to evaporate the moisture in the soil. When these 
flints get too thick, they are "picked" off by the 
farm hands and sold to those road repairing author- 
ities who advertise for " picked flints," and excellent 
roads they make when well broken, regulated, and 
rolled. 

There are people who declare that these flints 
actually grow in the soil, for after the land has been 
cleared of all the largest stones, the plough turns 
up another crop, and the rain soon makes them 
visible. 



PRE-HISTORIC. 5 

If dry pebbles are placed in a flat box, and 
some dry sand shot on the top, quite hiding the 
pebbles, every schoolboy knows that it will take but 
little shaking of the box to put all the sand at the 
bottom and the pebbles on the top ! The flints are 
in the soil, and the plough acts as the shaker, the 
fine soil gets below the larger stones and the process 
is repeated year after year. 

The flints themselves have their own tale to tell. 
Ages ago, when the chalk was being formed, organic 
matter, vegetable, sometimes as seaweed, animal 
matter as often, rested upon the sea bottom. Pure 
silica, of which flint is composed, is secreted from 
the ocean water, and attaching itself to any organic 
substance, becomes flint-stones, and increases in 
size in proportion to the secretions. Generally 
speaking, all flints are formed in the chalk, and may 
be seen in bands, as though at different times, it was 
the correct thing to secrete this silica on the ocean 
bed, and perhaps several thousand years might 
intervene between the forming of one band of flint 
and the next above it. 

By volcanic action in bygone ages, the chalk 
together with all above and all below has been 
elevated. The action of the sun and rain, of frost 
and wind, and the beating of the waves upon the 
cliffs along our shores easily account for the beaches 
that occur in the regions of such cliffs, for as the 
chalk wears away, the flints go to the bottom, and 
among the breakers, soon get dashed into smaller 
pieces, and the constant rolling by every successive 
tide rubs the corners off and makes them more or 
less spherical. 

Inland, as on the south side of our city stream 
there is every reason to believe that the Tertiary 
formations were deposited upon the chalk, as seen 
in the immediate neighbourhood, but these strata 



6 OLD CANTERBURY. 

have disappeared, and the chalk is seen at the top. 
As the geological order of strata is an established 
fact (6) it is perfectly certain that the Tertiaries were 
not deposited below the chalk, so that we are left to 
believe that they have, by means of torrential rains 
and floods, been washed away to the ocean, and how 
much of the upper chalk has gone with the Tertiary 
strata would be a difficult problem to solve. 

For untold ages the climate of this country was 
tropical, and more than tropical. The rainfall of 
that time would probably be nearer twenty feet per 
annum than the present twenty inches (7). Bays 
and valleys silted up with the mud that washed from 
the hill tops, and formed our grazing marshes; 
every downpour lowered the hills, and raised the 
valleys as it does to-day in a lesser degree. After 
the elements had done their worst with the 
Tertiaries, the same powerful agents attacked the 
chalk; the surging floods, carrying their milky bur- 
den to the sea, dropped the flint stones out of the 
chalk into any hole or pocket that they passed, and 
rolling them along for many miles, they became 
rounded like the beach, until to-day we find them in 
our gravel pits waiting to be "dug" out and sold to 
those who ask for "dug" or "pit" flints for use upon 
the road. 

What, might be asked, is the meaning of those 
deeply cut country lanes, on either side of the 
present valley of the Stour ? Have they been 
made for amusement, or are they the dry beds of 
ancient torrents, cut out so deeply by the surging 
floods that went to swell the wide and stately river 
of that time ? The Nackington Road, parts of the 
Old Dover Road, Hollow Lane (Wincheap), Ford- 
wich Lane and others seem to be old river beds. If 
they were dug out, where is the material, which 
would amount to millions of tons ? No sign of it exists 
on either side, and the fields still slope to the roads. 



PRE-HISTORIC. 7 

It does not need much stretch of the imagina- 
tion to fancy a river, or arm of the sea a mile or two 
in width, extending along the valley of the present 
little Stour, from Ashford or beyond, to Pegwell 
Bay. Can any better explain the meaning of the 
sharp chalk cliffs that overhang the river along the 
Chartham and the Chilham roads to Ashford ? How 
else can one account for the steep slopes of the 
Tertiaries on the north bank of the stream, particu- 
larly the prominence upon which stands the 
Harbledown Mill r Of course at this period there 
would be no Canterbury ; the waters covered the 
whole of what we now call the City and more be- 
yond, and proofs are not wanting. The brick earth 
at the back or north-east of Barton Fields, has been 
brought there by water. We find Alluvia at Than- 
ington and Hackington. St. Dunstan's church 
stands on a gravel bank, all deposited there by 
rushing waters ; higher still we find this gravel at 
Harbledown, and at St. Stephen's, half-a-mile and 
more away from the present stream and many feet 
in height above it. The same agent would deposit 
the gravel beds and the sand that may be found a 
mile away on the opposite bank of the old river, on 
what we now call Old Park and Scotland Hills. 

This gravel consists almost entirely of flint, 
which has been washed out of the chalk at a much 
greater altitude, and some of the stones appear to 
have been rolled for miles before they found their 
resting place in our midst. 

Among the gravel, pieces of sandstone, septaria, 
ironstone, and other kinds are occasionally met 
with, far away from any similar deposit. 

As a further proof that an arm of the sea at one 
time hid Canterbury from view, the accumulation of 
fine sand, half-way up St. Thomas' Hill tells its own 
tale. Near the top of this deposit is found a thick 



8 OLD CANTERBURY. 

layer of shells (8), also some ironstone (9), native 
ochre (10) and large fossil bivalves (11). Above 
these layers, still in sand, are often found sharks' 
teeth, as sharp, and as brightly enamelled, as when 
the monsters gambolled (in the water) on the slopes 
below St. Edmund's School (12). Remains of fish 
are also found ( 1 3), and sometimes portions of their 
vertebrae appear (14). 

In order to make it somewhat plainer to any 
reader who has not studied Geology, it might here 
be mentioned that the stratified crust of the earth is 
divided by Geologists into three great periods. 
Resting on the Archaean rocks, which are termed 
" igneous " and have no trace of life, these three 
periods are known by the names of Palaeozoic 
(ancient life) or Primary ; Mes >zoic (middle life) or 
Secondary ; Cainozoic (recent life) or Tertiary. As 
the chalk is the last layer or formation in the 
Secondary period, it is only fair to enquire after the 
missing Tertiaries, when no such deposits are 
visible. 

The Tertiaries and what is sometimes called 
the Quaternary or Post-tertiary are subdivided into 
six formations, determined solely by the proportion 
of shell-fish they contain, corresponding with exist- 
ing species. Mollusca is the alphabet or Key to 
Palaeontology, and according to the percentage of 
present life found, so the formation is determined. 
The names given to denote the systems, are all 
derived from the Greek Kainos = cene (recent) with 
prefixes to denote how recent. 

Eocene = Dawn of recent species. 

01igocene= Few recent species. 

Miocene = A minor proportion of recent species. 

Pliocene = A major proportion of recent species. 

Pleistocene = Marks the Glacial Epoch. 

Post Pliocene = Few or no extinct species. 



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PRE-HISTORIC. 9 

With this formidable array of strata missing, the 
last laid down, and perhaps the best known, it is 
only reasonable to suppose that it has in some way 
been removed. 

At the top of St. Thomas' Hill and Tyler Hill 
we have the well-known London clay, which is a 
representative of the lower Eocene formation, and 
is marine throughout its whole extent from Margate 
to Reading, and from Norfolk to the Isle of Wight. 

Half-way up St. Thomas' Hill are the Thanet 
Beds, Woolwich Beds, and Old Haven Beds, all in 
their usual order, above the chalk, and below the 
London clay ; while a mile away to the south, not a 
vestige of any of these formations has been left on 
the chalk. 

In Hampshire and in the Isle of Wight, far 
more of the Tertiaries remain than exist in Kent, 
and since they were deposited, great physical 
changes must have taken place, to cause the 
removal of so much. 

Although man was contemporaneous with 
several extinct animals, his fragile skeleton has 
perished, but his works remain to prove the fact. 

Since the Great Ice Age, but one deposit has 
been laid down, and it is only in this formation, 
known as the "Post Pliocene," that evidences of 
primitive man are found. He would be familiar 
with the woolly rhinoceros, the Irish elk, the long 
faced ox, the mammoth and other extinct life, and 
it is with the remains of such animals, and in the 
same deposit as that in which these are found, that 
the stone tools, roug'hly chipped and fashioned from 
the flint, have been recovered (15). 

In this far off Palaeolithic Age, man lived in 
what we now call Canterbury, and here he found 
his flints, and chipped them into shape : — Knives, 
scrapers, spear heads and daggers (16). 



IO OLD CANTERBURY. 

Probably the first settlers in Canterbury were 
attracted by the river, and as it is chiefly along the 
valley that their flint implements have been dis- 
covered, it is more than probable that if they were 
civilised enough to require a shelter, they would 
erect their dwellings on piles of timber, driven into 
the mud below the shallow waters, and from such a 
vantage point, would be able to secure a good 
supply of fish food. 

In many parts of this country, the relics of 
these ancient dwellings have been found. Under 
certain conditions, some English timbers are 
practically indestructible. Oak will last longer 
than any other known wood under such trying cir- 
cumstances as when continually exposed to all 
weathers, heat and cold, wet and dry, and many 
ancient examples are found in " Merrie England," 
not only in the old oak framed dwellings, but in the 
church roof shingles. It is however claimed for elm, 
that if used for well drums, and kept always below 
water, it will last for centuries, but if exposed to 
alternate wet and dry, there is no wood to equal it 
in rapidity of decay. 

In the Canterbury brick-earth, not more than 
nine feet above the present river level, and within a 
hundred yards of the present stream, the remains 
of Neolithic man have been discovered. These 
consist of weapons of polished stone, and show a 
distinct advance in the working of that material. 
Two of these " Stone Celts " recently found not far 
from the Sturry Road, are pronounced by a Dover 
authority to be " made of Diorite and to be not less 
than ten thousand years old " (17). Such stone axes 
were generally bound round with a green withe, 
much in the same way that the present blacksmith 
holds the chisel that is required to cut hot iron. 
The Neolithic passes — the Age of Bronze arrives 



PRE-HISTORIC. 1 1 

Along our river banks, now and again, evidences 
are not wanting that Canterbury was inhabited by 
a people who were remarkably clever in making 
Bronze into articles of utility, or weapons for the 
chase, and where they got their knowledge of 
mining, smelting, casting, is not so much a puzzle 
as how they learned the exact quantities of tin and 
copper required to make so excellent a bronze ! ! 

From the little eye usually found pierced, or 
provided for in the casting, it would appear that the 
ordinary "bronze celt" would be secured to the end 
of a lance or pole, by a thong of leather, so that if 
by any mishap, the pole should come out from the 
metal socket, the business end of the instrument 
would not be lost. It is thought that the reason so 
many celts are found along the river banks, is be- 
cause when the water became frozen, these imple- 
ments would be required to break the ice in order 
to catch fish, and would often get lost in the water. 
At that time the river was wide, and would often 
overflow. One such " bronze celt" was dug* up 
recently not half a mile beyond the Barton Mill (18). 
Many good specimens of bronze, polished stone, 
and chipped flint implements, representing these 
three distinct advances in civilisation, are shown in 
our Royal Museum, and are well worthy of our 
notice and admiration. 

It is impossible to give the date when the City 
of Canterbury was actually founded. If the legend- 
ary Romulus and Remus after being* suckled by a 
wolf and fed by a woodpecker grew to manhood 
and founded mighty Rome 700 years before Christ, 
then it is more than probable that ancient history is 
correct when it tells us that Canterbury was an 
important city 900 years before Christ (200 years 
before Rome was thought of). Although the city 
is built on low ground, and appears to be almost 



12 OLD CANTERBURY. 

entirely in the hollow of the Stour valley, Canter- 
bury is particularly healthy. Sea breezes, modified 
by six miles of land on the north and somewhat 
more on other sides, keep the atmosphere charged 
more or less with ozone. Few people seem to 
realize what a centre Canterbury is, and how many 
towns there are around within a few miles. Very 
few know that the white chalk cliffs of Ramsgate 
can be seen from the Whitstable Road ! Perhaps 
the best view is obtained from half-way up St. 
Thomas' Hill, looking along the valley towards the 
east ; when the sun shines full upon them, they are 
very distinct. 

With what is claimed to be the purest water in 
England, good drainage, and proximity to the 
coast, it is not to be wondered at that the old city 
which does so much in the way of instructing the 
rising generation in its schools and barracks, is 
selected by those who, having passed the prime of 
their lives in active service of one kind or another, 
seek rest and quiet. 

The position of Canterbury makes it possible 
to be in London or in France within an hour and a 
half, and many thousands of visitors to England 
make a point of treading the quaint streets of this 
ancient city of historical associations. 






CHAPTER II. 



THE MAIN STREET. 



TDILGRIMS to Canterbury are doubtless more or 
less puzzled on account of the many names 
given to the Main Street, and, at least within the 
gates of the city, think that High Street would be 
sufficient, but strictly speaking that name only 
covers the small portion between Mercery Lane 
and Best Lane. Starting from Whitstable Road 
for Dover we get St. Dunstan's, Westgate Without, 
Westgate Within, St. Peter's Street, King's Bridge, 
High Street, Parade, St. George's Street, St. 
George's Gate, St. George's Place, St. George's 
Fields, or New Road, so called ever since this road 
was opened by Act of Parliament in 1790 for the 
convenience of stage coach passengers, then Barton 
Fields, and after passing St. Lawrence Road (which 
is quite a recent road cut through a corn field) it is 
known as the New Dover Road to the point where 
the old and new roads converge, at which stands 
the "Sign of the Gate" reminding all and sundry 
of the ancient method of collecting the expenses of 
the road making, when the toll-gates controlled all 
the main roads, and no vehicle could pass till the 
toll-keeper had received his dues. The Gate House 
remains between the two roads, but the great white 
painted gates were removed some years back. The 
Gate House controlling the London and Whitstable 
Roads still stands opposite St. Dunstan's Church, 
but the gates disappeared long ago. 



14 OLD CANTERBURY. 

Near this spot is a private road known as 
" Forty Acres " leading to St. Stephen's, where 
since 1897 nearly a hundred houses have been 
erected in Beaconsfield and adjoining roads. The 
Forty Acres referred to a parcel of ground now 
occupied as a nursery, the present successful rose 
grower having purchased it from the estate of the 
late W. de Chair Baker, Esq. At the St. Dunstan's 
end of this accommodation road, and entirely 
enclosed by a high brick wall, is the Friends' or 
Quakers' Cemetery, where the small plain head- 
stones record the names of many well-known and 
influential Canterbury citizens. Divided only by a 
wall on the north side, is the Burying Ground for 
the Jews, where the Hebrew inscriptions engraved 
upon the monuments would give the idea to the 
ordinary visitor of being some thousands of miles 
away from one's native land. These two quiet, 
secluded resting-places, so little known by the 
ordinary citizen, are reminders of two important 
sections of the inhabitants of Canterbury who in 
past years have had much to do in the making of 
the history of the city's progress. 

At the corner of Hanover Place, which was 
opened as a road about i860, stands an interesting 
block of dwellings, to which the only entrance 
doors are at the back. The guide books tell us 
under this fine old roof the youth of Canterbury 
have been instructed in the three R.s, and at 
another period of its history, which perhaps 
accounts for the absence of street doors, its thick 
walls prevented the escape of those whose conduct 
required a hearing by the authorities or punish- 
ment for their offences. 

Many changes have of necessity taken place 
since Charles Dickens walked our streets, and 
although he might not approve of the innovation 



THE MAIN STREET. 1 5 

of the level crossing of the railway, he would still 
be able to find the " old-fashioned house bulging 
out over the road, with long low lattice windows 
bulging out still further," Agnes Wickfield, the 
charming little house-keeper, with the " basket- 
trifle hanging at her side, with keys in it," has 
gone; so has the owner of that "clammy hand" 
which David Copperfield calls " as ghostly to the 
touch as to the sight" ; and in 1905 the " 'umble 
abode" in North Lane where this " 'umblest person 
going," Uriah Heep, lived with his mother, who 
was likewise " a very 'umble person," was pulled 
down to make room for an improved edition of the 
writhing Uriah's " lowly dwelling " (19). 

Perhaps one of the greatest improvements of 
recent years in the neighbourhood of Westgate 
was the removal of the fellmonger's yard on the 
river's brink adjoining the Holy Cross Church. 
This was for many years not only an eyesore but 
a trial to the olfactory nerves of the passers-by, 
and possibly made a very bad first impression on 
the minds of pilgrims entering the city from the 
north and west. Those who remember the skin- 
racks and the old tarred buildings are grateful to 
the previous owners of the fine old Tower House 
for the removal of the undesirable, and the estab- 
lishment of the very charming river-side approach 
with its borders of gaily coloured flowers. 

After the demolition of the old house at the 
corner of Best Lane, which was replaced by the 
present baker's shop and restaurant (opposite the 
Post Office), there were indications that the corner 
house was of much later date than the adjoining 
grocer's establishment, for not only is the west 
wall of that house built of flints as an outer wall 
would be, and with a blocked stone doorway still 
showing, but below the present ground level was 



1 6 OLD CANTERBURY. 

found a buried stone path, which being further 
tracked led to a well, beautifully lined with flints, 
thus suggesting that the garden at the side of the 
grocery had been given up for the building of other 
property. 

Similar flint-lined wells are met with in other 
parts of the city, to wit, the one in the roadway at 
the juncture of Guildhall Street and Palace Street, 
where the Rush Market was held and no doubt 
duly patronized before the days of carpets. The old 
red pump which fetched the water from this public 
well has long since disappeared, but the miniature 
over the entrance to one of the business establish- 
ments opposite the well reminds us of the days and 
usages of our forefathers. 

.V word might also be said in passing as to the 
very common practice of closing up and building 
over ancient ways, and of enclosing for private use 
what was common ground. A case of the latter 
kind might be that of " Gallows Green," which 
from the use made of it would probably never have 
been more than common ground, but which to-day 
appears to be a private garden ; needless to add, 
the gallows have been removed. An execution for 
robbery took place here in 1815. 

No 8 High Street had an external wall with 
many windows looking towards Mercery Lane, and 
although we know that Chaucer's Inn at the corner 
is an ancient building (which it is hoped may be 
allowed to stand for centuries yet to come), between 
that and No. 8, Colcock's confectioner's shop, Pout's 
upholsterer's establishment and other buildings 
were erected afterwards, and when these timber 
houses and workshops took fire in 1865 through 
the upsetting of the pitch-pot, this external wall of 
No. 8 appeared to check the fire, and although the 
military were called from the barracks to pull down 



THE MAIN STREET. 1 7 

Xo. 9 and so make a gap in the hope of saving- 
Guildhall Street, their task was but half done, (20) 
when, through the efforts of the firemen and the 
weather tiling on the wall of No. 8, one of the most 
disastrous of the city's modern fires was got under 
control. Thus some of the largest houses in the 
street now mark the spot. 

Mead Lane, leading to the old Grey Friars, 
Iron Bar Lane, Foundry Lane and others appear to 
have been built over and perhaps curtailed in width. 

Thfee hundred years ago, All Saints' Lane, 
never a city promenade, was known as " Break- 
Pot Lane," but in this particular instance it may 
be well to leave the name alone. 

There is room for consideration of the proposi- 
tion in the case of Butchery Lane to revert to its old 
name of " Angel Lane," so called because from it 
was obtained such a glorious view of the gilded 
angel whose glittering pinions adorned the steeple 
of the central tower of the Cathedral, but the angel 
has gone and the butchers of 1865 have departed. 
Till recently nothing remained in the lane but the 
sign of the " Angelo Castle " to remind one of its 
former name. 

It would be difficult indeed to say with any 
certainty which is the oldest house in the main 
street. Cellar and foundation walls when strongly 
built on good solid ground are practically indestruc- 
tible. The old-fashioned mortar is sometimes harder 
than the brick or stone it binds together, and when 
below ground the damp from the soil sets most of 
these cellar walls into a mass as hard as concrete. 
Consequently in scores of instances when rebuilding 
has taken place, the old structure has been removed 
to ground level, but the cellar walls have been found 
remarkably strong and massive, and the new 
erection has been raised upon them. The house 




37 HIGH STREET. 




CELLAR UNDER THE ABOVE. 



THE MAIN STREET. I Q. 

claiming to be the oldest is 37 High Street, but the 
date 1 1 00 A.D. can only refer to the cellar masonry, 
a view of which is given in the guides (21). The 
late Dr. Sheppard drew attention to the fact that 
this house formed part of the Cambium Regis, or 
King's Exchange, which was one of the two mints 
in England, showing that Canterbury at that time 
was indeed a decidedly important city. 

The cellar or crypt is covered over with ribbed 
groining in stone, and is long enough to shelter 
ladders of sixty rounds. The walls are built of 
stone, the springing of the groins is low, and it is 
possible the cellar floor has been raised to keep out 
the river water in time of flood. In the walls are 
fastened old wrought iron spikes and pieces of chain, 
rather suggestive of what one might expect to see 
in a dungeon. The superstructure of this house is 
of course several hundred years old, and it may be 
that parts of adjacent property are of similar date, 
but in the case of No. 37 the old gable front and 
projecting wall have been allowed to remain (21a), 
while its neighbours have had new faces to the old 
interiors. 

"King Henry III in A.D. 1222 wrote to the 
Scabines and men of Ipre, that he and his council, 
had given prohibition that none Englishmen or 
other, should make change of plate or other mass 
of silver but only at his Exchange at London or at 
Canterbury." 

"In the iter of H. De Stanton and his sociates 
Justices itinerant here in the seventh year of King 
Edward II., Hugh Pykard was indicted within the 
liberties of Christ Church for stealing 32 lbs. of 
Silver which was in the Change at Canterbury " — 
now 37 High Street. 

In sinking a well at the rear of these premises, 
an old jar or bottle of glazed brown ware was 



2 OLD CANTERBURY. 

found a few feet below the surface. A hideous face 
had been carved in the clay when in a plastic con- 
dition, intended to represent the celebrated Bishop 
Bellarmine, who improvised a tax on the wine which 
was imported in these jars. The foreign wine mer- 
chants in retaliation or spite, decorated the wine 
jars and bottles in imitation of the bishop, without 
flattering- his good looks. The bottles, which are 
often met with, date about 1680 (22), (23). 

In the same excavation several old Dutch clay 
pipes were unearthed, with their characteristic small 
bowls, and thick uncomfortable stems (24). 

Carefully hidden away under a floor of a living 
room removed for a shop extension, was found the 
blade and part of the handle of a dagger. The 
blade is yet sharp and pointed, both sides highly 
Damascened and both edges prepared for business. 
The handle was partly made of steel and copper, 
the surface worked in gold and silver on a blue 
enamel (25). Why was the handle broken ? Why 
the dagger hidden ? 

To solve the mysteries of all that is broug-fit to 
light in an ancient city would be a long and useless 
task. Without doubt, deeds of the darkest hue have 
been perpetrated within our city walls, mistakes 
have been made more than once, in hanging the 
innocent man, the g"uilty have escaped unpunished. 
As an instance of the latter case, why should there 
be found during the alteration of a chimney in a 
cellar, not far from the Fish Market, what appeared 
to be the skeleton of a woman, standing in an up- 
right position between two walls r If she died a 
natural death, it is presumed she would have been 
decently interred r It was suggested to acquaint 
the coroner, but as in another case referred to, it 
appeared to have been " a long time ago," the wall 
was bricked up, and the poor woman is likely to- 
remain standing for a long time to come. 



THE MAIN STREET. 2 1 

In consideration of the nerves of a large family 
living in the house, no mention was made of the 
discovery. It is said that " every house has a 
skeleton in the cupboard," in this particular instance 
the statement is correct. 

"Things are not what they seem" is a well- 
known quotation, and is evident in many of the 
brick walls of our houses. All over the city the 
fronts and sides of dwellings are to all intents and 
purposes constructed of brick, and it may be that 
many are returned by Fire Assurance Agents as 
" Brick and Tile." On close examination however, a 
practical eye detects that they are simply timber walls, 
covered over with what are known in the building 
trade as mathematical tiles (26), being the size 
and having the colour of bricks — they may be buff, 
or red, or grey, and not only have they been made 
out of various brickearths, in stretchers, headers, 
and closures, but the deception goes further, for they 
were made to return the quoins or angles of walls 
and windows (27). As a rule detection is easy, for 
everybody knows that a heavy brick wall could not 
be supported on the tips of projecting timbers, and 
although these tiles make a dry wall, they are 
always more or less dang'erous to passers by. 
Secured with iron nails, the day comes when 
rust asserts itself, and as tiles cannot well hang on 
nothing, down comes a g'reat patch. Copper nails 
are better, but as the timbers behind and below are 
always decaying, and getting smaller, it is not a 
source of great satisfaction to be the owner of such 
propertv. Reasons, there are, however, where brick 
walls could not be erected, and many buildings in 
the lower parts of the city stand on piles, for want 
of good and solid ground. 

Opposite the church of St. George the Martyr 
stands a silversmith's establishment thathas recently 



22 OLD CANTERBURY. 

been partly re-constructed, and is a good example 
of the bad taste obtaining rather more than a 
hundred years ago. Originally built, probably in 
the 15th century, it was a brave little house, very 
strongly constructed of sound and heavy oak tim- 
bers, some of which are nearly a foot square in 
section, and as hearty as they were when felled by 
the woodman's axe in the forests that abounded in 
large timbers all around the city some five hundred 
years ago. When mathematical tiles came to the 
fore, the owner of these premises thought fit to hide 
from view the delightful old front, with its massive 
moulded beams and posts, struts and braces, 
plastered and tinted in between the timbers in the 
good old fashioned way. The "Mask" is off, and 
once again the real old front of oak stands out in 
bold relief, and shows us what the builders of a by- 
gone age could do, when bricks were scarce, and 
stone a luxury (28). 

This house evidently contained one large room 
or hall on the ground floor, and the moulded oak 
beams- which can now be seen in the shop ceiling, 
show the size of this hall, the mason's- mitre in the 
beams, being taken as the centre of the main room. 
The custom of the age was duly observed in the 
building of a large chimney outside the square hall,, 
and resting some of the main timbers upon the 
brickwork. On the removal of this chimney it was 
amusing to find that probably owing to lack of 
technical skill on the part of the mason or brick- 
layer, in that he was unable to construct an arch 
over the fire-place, the blacksmith came to the 
rescue by placing a stout horizontal flat bar to carry 
the chimney breast, and supported it in the centre 
by a long vertical iron bolt, built into the brickwork 
above, and not unlike an inverted "T." The timbers 
from cellar to roof in this old house are in a 




MR. POLLARD'S HOUSE FRONT. 



THE MAIN STREET. 23 

remarkable state of preservation, and it is needless 
to add that the rafters are tenoned together at the 
points, without the modern ridge piece. 

There is no manner of doubt that this house 
was, when built, semi-detached, if not detached. 
Not only was there an open passage way from the 
street along the side of the house, past the project- 
ing chimney, but there was a window at the side of 
the house, close to the front wall, on the first floor, 
commanding a splendid view of the main street as 
far as Westgate. At that time, however, the street 
would have had an appearance somewhat oriental, 
no side walks, rough and stony road, horn and 
lattice windows, quaint costumes and cries, grotesque 
carvings, and anything one's imagination can pro- 
vide, except what we see to-day. The cellar wall 
did not extend beyond the chimney and had an 
opening into the side passage, which on the western 
side had its boundary wall, the brick on edge 
coping having been left intact about six feet off the 
ground, when the superstructure of the modern 
house was placed upon it. Eventually this outside 
passage was required for the enlargement of the 
house, and the space was roofed over and adapted. 

It would be interesting to learn what, if any, 
connection there was between this old residence and 
the White Friars at the rear. In course of altera- 
tions, several days labour was expended in the 
necessary removal of the upper part of a very solid 
foundation of a rubble wall, sledge hammers and 
steel points making very slow progress. Adjoining 
this masonry, was discovered what appeared to be 
an underground passage, leading in the direction of 
the Simon Langton Schools. It was built of brick- 
work, with a cambered brick arch about four feet 
in width, but having been filled with earth and 
rubble, it was difficult to explore. Whether this 



24 OLD CANTERBURY. 

subterranean passage had a connection with the 
Cathedral northward, or communicated with a 
similar passage southward, that was found under 
the playground of the Simon Langton Schools a 
few years since, is not easy to say. 

It is reported that similar massive remains of 
ancient walls have been uncovered in the adjoining 
premises, and as the thick walls of the White Friars 
are yet plainly visible on the north side of the 
School Gardens, it is very probable that these 
Augustine Friars had a house and entrance to their 
grounds at this point (28a). 

For the information of any who might think 
that the front is a sham, it is well to add that not a 
single timber on the main front has been either 
removed or replaced. The restoration of the gable, 
and the front of the added portion over the side 
door has been done entirely with old oak beams 
which were removed from the same house and 
replaced by steel girders. 

In many an old house in the city, one meets 
with panelled or wooden dadoes in the better rooms 
on the ground floor, generally about the height of a 
chair. If the dado is absent, the plastering, colour- 
ing, or paperhanging generally calls for attention, 
and our predecessors in the building line have 
doubtless been puzzled more than once, to account 
for the dampness on the lower part of the brick 
walls. Want of eaves gutters and the low ground 
might account for outer walls being damp, but it 
was certainly a riddle to many, why an inside wall 
should be so damp. When it is remembered that a 
single porous brick will absorb a pint of water, and 
if laid on the ground, immediately sucks up like a 
sponge the moisture in the ground, there is no 
further need to wonder why walls were dadoed. 



THE MAIN STREET. 25 

Houses, no matter what size, are now built with 
a damp resisting course all over every wall some 
few inches above ground level, the result being that 
no moisture should pass this point from the ground 
below. 

Few people seem to know that against St. 
George's Church Tower, once stood, where the pave- 
ment now is, a semi-circular turret, pierced for 
pedestrian traffic, but the scar of separation has 
been so well hidden that one might think the south 
side of the church had been entirely faced, since the 
demolition of the turret, with knapped flints. At 
the east end of the south wall is a door. At the 
present time it is useless ; no trace of it is visible 
in the street, but a map can be shown, on which is 
a projection at this point, probably a vestry, access 
to which was provided by the present door. 

When inserting two powerful lanterns for the 
illumination of the street clock, the walls of the 
tower proved to be built of chalk blocks faced with 
flint, and nearly four feet in thickness. 

Chalk, although a limestone, is too soft for 
external building, but is often found as a core to 
thick walls with a weather resisting face. Occasion- 
ally internal walls are found entirely built of roughly 
squared chalk blocks, and provided that such walls 
are protected against damp and frost they are 
practically indestructible. 

The Assembly Rooms over the old Canterbury 
Bank are remembered by many inhabitants yet, 
but may be some have failed to recognise the fine 
old window (through which they used to see the 
Cathedral and Mercery Lane) in its present 
position in Broad Street, not far from Old Rutting- 
ton Lane (29). 

Some stone fronted houses with semi-circular 
headed windows in Wincheap Street, on the city 



26 OLD CANTERBURY. 

side of the Elham Valley Bridge, show the style of 
building that stood till 1888, when the present 
handsome bank was built and St. Margaret's Street 
widened through the removal of the old toy shop 
which stood next St. Mary Bredman's Church. 

King's Bridge is also known as East Bridge,, 
being over the eastern arm of the river which 
forms the island of Binnewyth. At this point it 
may be noticed that the old Hospital that gave 
food and shelter to many of Becket's pilgrims is 
approached by going down some steps to a lower 
level ; several of the adjacent buildings show a 
similar arrangement owing entirely to the fact that 
the road has been raised and is now carried by a 
bridge. When the simple ford existed, these same 
buildings were approached by going ///> steps. An 
inscription of some length on a stone at the end of 
the bridge gives particulars of the latest improve- 
ments. 

When Archbishop Sudbury pulled down the 
old Westgate, and built our present fine gateway, 
the Holy Cross Church was on the top of the 
towers. In its present position for many years 
there appeared over the north porch a gilded cross 
to indicate its name in the days when people did 
not read. 

A few of the old signs are with us yet : we 
have the barber's pole, the chemist's mortar and 
pestle, the three golden balls which need no 
explanation, occasionally the tobacco jar and the 
colour jar, and last but not least the signs on the 
inns and taverns. 

From King's Bridge may be seen a small 
castellated circular tower rendered in Roman 
cement, a pretty feature at the water's edge, along 
what some visitors like to call "our little bit of 
Venice " (30J. We are told that this was built by 



THE MAIN STREET. 27 

one who used it for the purposes of alchemy, but 
even with that fanciful fumes disperser it is doubt- 
ful if he found the means whereby he could 
transmute the baser metals into gold (31). 

A small crucible for melting gold was recently 
found in an old roof near the Cattle Market. Its 
contents were nil ($2). 



CHAPTER III. 

OLD DOVER ROAD. 

'TpOR many years there stood just off the Old 
-*- Dover Road and nearly opposite the " Sign of 
Dover" an old landmark known as the Black Mill; 
one Spring evening in 1873 this took fire, and being 
built of timber and weather board and protected 
from the rains by many coats of tar, it was not a 
lengthy process to reduce the building to a heap of 
ashes. However carefully we may cover our fire 
risks by paying annual premiums, there is no doubt 
that every piece of property destroyed by fire, is a 
distinct loss to the country. 

Most weird and pretty was the appearance of 
those mighty sweeps and middlings, seventy feet in 
length and a foot square at the cross, with scores of 
closing shutters, blazing from end to end, like a set 
piece of fireworks against the blackened sky. 

The mill has gone, and nothing remains to 
mark the spot but an old oak post to which was 
hung the gate that gave access to the mill yard. 

In passing, it might be noted that this style of 
windmill has apparently had its day, the great 
stones have to give place to the steel rolls, and in- 
stead of depending on the vagaries of the wind, our 
millers do more regular work with steam or dynamo. 

Canterbury has for many years enjoyed a repu- 
tation for its windmills, and not only has a local 
firm of millwrights had to do with the erection and 
renovation of mills in Kent, but it has placed them 
in foreign lands, and when a Canterbury man finds 



OLD DOVER ROAD. 29 

himself walking round Jerusalem, he may be agree- 
ably surprised to see a duplicate of the Old Black 
Mill on one of the eminences near the Mount of 
Olives, that was made in Canterbury and erected in 
that far off land by Canterbury hands (33). 

Shortly after this fire, the adjoining land came 
into the market, was bought for building purposes, 
and in due time Ethelbert Road appeared. 

In excavating for the cellars of two of the 
houses erected in 1895, at about four feet from the 
surface of what had been a corn field for many 
years, a skeleton was uncovered. The late Doctor 
Sheppard lived near, so his attention was called to 
the discovery and he was soon making a close 
examination of the bones. Burial in such a place 
seemed to point to foul play, but when this was 
suggested, the Doctor said in his dry way "well if 
it was foul play, it was a long time ago, a very long 
time ago/' on being questioned why he thought so, 
said he : "I don't think anything about it, I know 
these bones have not been touched for a thousand 
years, they are the bones of a full-grown man, at 
least six: feet in height, probably a Roman ; he was 
not more than twenty-one years of age, and his food 
was chiefly grain." This definite statement not only 
relieved the minds of those present as to the proba- 
bility of their having to attend the coroner's court, 
but caused a smile of incredulity, the reply to which 
was, " well, you can believe me or not, just as you 
like." Now Doctor said one, u tell us how you 
know the man was not more than twenty-one ? " 
"Ah ! " said he, "you have asked the easiest ques- 
tion," taking up the lower jaw, the teeth of which were 
perfect in number, shape, and enamel, but ground 
down on the molars to a nearly flat surface, "Look," 
said he in triumph, " all his teeth, excepting his 
wisdom teeth." Having in his time practised dent- 



30 OLD CANTERBURY. 

istry, of course he detected this instantly. Needless 
to say, no further questions were asked. 

It was, however, very gratifying some few days 
after this occurrence, to find in digging for drains, 
quite near where this young Roman had lain so 
long, a bronze Roman coin, with the image and 
superscription of the Emperor Constantine upon it. 
A small piece of the jaw with some of the teeth (34) 
and the coin (35) can yet be shown. In the excava- 
tion for the cellar of the next house, a similar 
skeleton was found, lying in the same direction and 
at the same depth ; being not more than two hun- 
dred feet away from the main road, probably this 
site was used in the same manner as was the Appian 
Way of old. Three skeletons were uncovered in 
1904 lying close together in the same locality with 
but a foot of earth above them. 

This road within a mile from the city has been 
of exceptional interest to the natives of the ancient 
city for many generations. 

Before leaving the Riding Gate Bridge, where, 
Temple Bar fashion, the old elliptic arch of brick 
with its quaint old Keystone and the word " Well- 
come" over, has been removed, together with the 
tunnels for pedestrians, we might mention that this 
bridge gave place to the existing iron bridge in 
1885, having stood for nearly 100 years. We are 
told that the stone bearing the word " Wellcome " 
in bold relief, was, previous to 1791, on the outer 
side of the old Worthgate, and on the city or inner 
side of that gate, a similar stone was fixed bearing 
the word "Farewell," for the benefit of those who 
could read, and passed either way. 

When the present bridge was built, the old 
Duke of York public house was demolished (36) 
giving place to the quadrant-shaped shrubbery at 
that point of the moat. 



OLD DOVER ROAD. 3 1 

On the Terrace side of the bridge all traces 
liave disappeared of the old watch tower, unless any 
portions can be found in the dwelling now adjoining 
the wall. 

Since the Roman Gateway closed this point of 
the ancient Watling Street, probably the road has 
risen by degrees as much as eight feet. No one 
appears able to give an explanation of the name of 
the road branching southward from this spot 
" Rhodaus Town." Forty years back there was 
nothing here but the old oast house, now a miller's 
store, and three small houses, but these would 
hardly make a "town." Further on was the Manor 
House and some old timber built cottages, and these 
in part remain with us to-day ; the latter on the 
original low level adjoining the path alongside the 
Chatham and Dover Railway, to make room for 
which six similar and adjoining cottages were pulled 
<iown, while the former on the opposite side of the 
line still stands in fading lonely glory with its deco- 
rated stone doorway, its thick brick walls of perfect 
old English bond, its massive beams and fine old 
timber roof, to shelter fruit baskets instead of lords 
and ladies as in days gone by. 

In the Old Dover Road, between what is now 
St. Mary Bredin's Vicarage and Oaten Hill, may be 
seen a red brick wall, with window arches, all that 
remains of one of the many hop oasts once so 
numerous in the city, it now partly encloses a 
bowling green for the old hostelry known as " The 
Cross Keys." Opposite this wall, a block of modern 
dwellings, erected a few years back, replaces " Rats 
Row," a well-known line of rickety cottages, with 
small gardens in front. Many will also remember 
the donkey, that for years was taken through the 
living rooms by its owner, to a shed at the back. 
From this corner, up as far as the " Sign of Dover," 



32 OLD CANTERBURY. 

nearly all the land was utilised as orchards ; opposite 
the Hoystings stood the St. Sepulchre's Nunnery, 
and, from some accounts, their Parish Church ; but 
the oldest inhabitants cannot recollect any portions 
of these buildings being visible in their early days. 
A short, high piece ot flint wall, with projecting 
foundation abuts the raised foot walk ; another por- 
tion of what may be their boundary wall, was built 
upon at the side of No. i Cossington Road. Some 
years back a craggy end of an ancient wall over- 
hung the foot-path at a point between Nos. 2$ and 
24 in Old Dover Road, and it is thought that these 
two points might indicate the S.E. and N.W. 
boundaries of the nuns' domains. 

The numerous sections of stone and Bethersden 
marble column shafts seen in the retaining walls 
between this point and Cossington Street corner, 
also the friezes of stone Tudor chimney pieces, 
which are fast losing the beauty of their carving 
through exposure to the elements, are said to have 
come from the precincts of the Cathedral, and were 
built in their present positions since i860. 

Three cottages were demolished to make room 
for the Bridge House Tavern, which was erected 
during the making of the Chatham and Dover 
Railway about i860. At this point the line cuts 
through an old chalk quarry, formerly worked by a 
Mr. Wellch who lived in his house some fifty feet 
back from the road and exactly where the metals 
now lie, but of course above them. Due notice was 
given by the New Company, with the Act of 
Parliament behind them, that a portion of his land 
was required for the railway, and that his dwelling 
would have to be taken down. So obstinate how- 
ever was Mr. Wellch, that he defied the Company, 
and declared he would neither move for them, nor 
for parliament, not even for the devil himself, and 



OLD DOVER ROAD. 33 

it was not until the house was actually tunnelled 
under, and began to fall, that he thought better of 
it and found new quarters. 

From this chalk quarry vast quantities of lime 
have been used by builders and farmers, the loam 
overlying the chalk, having here been burned as 
brick. Not only was chalk dug over the area, but 
huge caverns were cut in the cliffs, and it is said 
that in consequence of these, the main road fell in 
more than once. There is a story that during the 
filling of a waggon, a team of three horses was left 
standing in the quarry, the hind horse slipped down 
the well and dragged the other two after it. It is 
recorded that several of the workers lost their lives 
through falls of cliff, and it is satisfactory to note 
that in these days of greater care for life, such 
fatalities are very rare. 

Previous to 1870 this working was used as the 
city rubbish heap, an unsightly, evil smelling 
Gehenna. Mr. T. G. Cozens then becoming owner, 
with the help of five thousand loads of mould to 
fill up holes, formed walks and terraces and made 
a transformation scene. To-day this spot is per- 
haps, as a garden, without a local rival ; in the 
hands of its present owner, a lover of flowers, it has 
become a perfect little Paradise. 

Opposite this old quarry is a garden, now used 
by a dairyman, but till 1875 this land had been used 
for brickmaking and limeburning, several of the 
men living in temporary cottages on the site, one of 
which stood on what is now the road forming the 
spacious sweep to Puckle Lane. Until the railway 
company diverted this lane to avoid building an 
extra bridge, the junction with Old Dover Road was 
effected nearer the city. Five minutes walk nearer 
Dover, brings us to a row of dwellings on the city 
side of the Bat and Ball, some of which were built 



34 OLD CANTERBURY. 

more than a century ago by the government as 
barracks, and there are several such blocks of 
dwellings in the city. Opposite is the site of the 
old leper hospital of St. Lawrence, next to the well- 
known County Cricket Ground. 

Although the guide books tell us that no trace 
of the ancient buildings remains, some of the 
foundations are probably below the surface, and 
attention may be called to the massive stone wall 
next the road. In the main pier of what was 
probably the front entrance, may still be seen a 
stone with carved figures upon it, depicting the 
Martyr on the gridiron, and the Emperor Valerian, 
with his executioner, looking on (37). It is recorded 
that Laurentius or St. Laurence was the principal 
deacon of Sextus, Bishop of Rome. While being 
tortured over a slow fire, Laurentius requested that 
he might be turned over, that the tyrant emperor 
might try which was better, roast or raw. This 
took place in Rome, a.d. 258. From a.d. 1137, 
when Hugh, Abbot of St. Augustine, built the 
hospital for poor monks and their poorer relatives, 
dedicating it to St. Lawrence, it served its purpose, 
until 1547 when it shared the common fate. 

That the church still stood, is mentioned in a 
report probably prepared for the visitation in 1557 
of Cardinal Pole, which runs — u St. Laurence. They 
present that the chancel and church there is sore 
decayed and in great ruin, and that they have no 
priest." 

A hundred years later we find the premises in 
the possession of Sir William Rooke. The elder 
son of Sir William lost his life in a duel fought at 
North Holmes, where a stone in the wall records the 
fact that " Rooke died here." The younger son — 
Sir George Rooke, became Vice- Admiral of England 
and captured Gibraltar, for which he got poor 



OLD DOVER ROAD. 35 

thanks, and finding the government hostile to him 
on political grounds, he retired from active service 
and led the life of a Kentish gentleman till he died 
in the old house at St. Lawrence, Jan. 24th, 1709. 
He was buried in St. Paul's Church and in the 
Warriors' Chapel in the Cathedral may be seen a 
very fine monument to his memory (38). 

Sir George was evidently a favourite at Court, 
for Queen Anne stood God-mother to his only son, 
who died at St. Lawrence without issue in 1739, and 
left the estate to his widow ; at her death in 1770 it 
passed to her brother Viscount Dudley. As late as 
1799 it was occupied by the Graham family; but 
very shortly afterwards, being probably in a ruinous 
condition, Nackington House was built, the old 
mansion pulled down, and the ground sown with 
grass. The kitchen apartments, probably more 
modern than the mansion, were allowed to remain. 
They form to-day a picturesque ivy-clad house in 
connection with the St. Lawrence Laundry (39). 
Attention might be called to the wrought-iron fence 
forming part of the boundary in the Old Dover 
Road, this is leaded into some beautifully moulded 
stone bases, curved on plan, and it is said that it 
was made for and actually enclosed for many years 
a tomb in France. 

During the excavations for the house built on 
this land in 1902, (which is called " Rookelands," in 
memory of a great sailor) several interesting objects 
were unearthed, including coins, tokens, a silver 
spur (40), pottery, old fashioned clay water-pipes (41), 
curious flat brick drains and a quantity of rag stone ; 
old foundations were met with, and in digging for 
the cellar, a sepulchral urn was found, made of black 
unglazed clay, containing what appeared to be 
burned bones (42), portions of an iron breast-plate, 
on which were riveted two copper discs about the 




f S38P 



j|jjjijjj!lij! 



!!!!!» 



YE OLD FORGE HOUSE, AD. 1 694. 




BACK OF YE OLD FORGE HOUSE. 



OLD DOVER ROAD. 37 

size of a penny. When the fine old walnut tree was 
removed in 1906, a bronze coin was found under the 
root in perfect preservation, with sinister bust pro- 
file, laureated and draped — English inscription 
Carolvs. A. Carolo. fCharles son of Charles). 
The Scotch coins and the Irish coins each bore their 
own wording (42a). 

Adjoining the Sign of Dover is Ye 01 de Forge 
House, and although it was so greatly altered and 
restored by Mr. E. Ellis in 1902, it is still the same 
old house ; the date given can be seen carved on one 
of the hard red bricks. The ancient forge now serves 
the purpose of a drawing room, the harmonious 
blacksmiths have long since disappeared, but the 
ringing anvil, and some tongs may yet be seen 
resting over a window in the front of the house. A 
considerable portion of the old oak used in the 
renovation, was brought from the Deanery at West- 
bere, where it had stood for perhaps five hundred 
years, until that was demolished in 1901. 

Nearly opposite Ye Olde Forge were two capa- 
cious wells for the storage of ice, and many hundred 
tons were annually deposited in these cool chambers 
in the deep recesses of the chalk. One of these 
wells was filled up with earth about 1876 and the 
other was covered over. 

Not far from the railway bridge may be seen 
what is left of a stone font, some years ago 
presented, from the Cathedral precincts, to one of 
Canterbury's Chief Magistrates. It is in a sorry 
plight, and perhaps without much beauty, but its 
present position is certainly more becoming than 
that from which it was recently rescued. For 
years it had rested on the ground, under a back 
yard pump (43). It is said to be a piece of 15th 
century work. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 

TF one would learn the history of our noble 
- 1 - Cathedral, the little book by the Dean of 
Ripon will be found useful, but should a clearer 
knowledge be desired, with dates and measures, 
plans and sections, the work brought out by the late 
Mr. George Smith, entitled " Chronological History 
of Canterbury Cathedral" will be found well worth 
the few shillings required to purchase it. 

The author of the latter work had every facility 
for measuring all parts of the sacred pile, and being 
an architect and a clever draughtsman, produced a 
ground plan of peculiar interest, in that, by degrees 
of shading, the various ages of the masonry are 
plainly shown. The book should contain this 
plan (44). 

The late Dean Alford, among his many good 
works, took in hand the much needed restoration of 
the extensive decaying portions of the Cathedral, 
and put forward a scheme to refill the niches of the 
porch and buttresses, with statues of Kings, Arch- 
bishops and others, who had been in some way 
connected with the Cathedral, and it is surprising 
to find how very few people have noticed the figures 
of King Ethelbert, with his model of the ancient 
Cathedral on the one side of the south-west porch, 
and Queen Bertha on the other, overshadowed by 
the hideous gargoyles at the upper angles of this 
beautiful entrance (45). 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 39 

The cost of each figure was to be ^24, and it 
was proposed that they be erected by subscription. 
A statue of the late Prince Consort was placed in a 
niche at the late Queen's expense, since which, one 
of her Majesty has been erected alongside. 

The western towers, originally of Norman 
design, are fine and noble examples of the perpen- 
dicular style of architecture, while the central tower, 
a specimen of the same style, is a structure so full 
of grace and beauty, that it was in a large degree 
taken as the model for the tower at Westminster 
when the talented Barry was entrusted with the 
work of designing the Houses of Parliament (46). 

In walking round the south side of the Cathe- 
dral, it is easy to miss seeing a somewhat unusual 
piece of work in the east wall of St. Michael's or 
the Warriors' Chapel. When the celebrated Arch- 
bishop Stephen Langton (who first divided the 
Bible into chapters) died in Sussex, he was brought 
to Canterbury and buried in the Cathedral Cemetery, 
close to the apsidal chapel of St. Michael. During 
a subsequent enlargement of the chapel, it was 
decided not to interfere with the tomb of this 
illustrious saint, but to build the new wall across it, 
so that the unusual position of a tomb is here seen, 
partly in and partly outside the wall, and it is said 
that no greater mark of distinction could have been 
paid to the much reverenced prelate. 

There is the tomb of Bishop Coligny, who fled 
from France in 1568 to England, to escape the con- 
sequences of his Protestant tendencies, and was 
graciously received by Queen Elizabeth. It is said 
that while staying as a guest in the Precincts, a 
servant gave him a poisoned apple. The coffin 
containing his remains was put down on the floor 
of Trinity Chapel, awaiting removal to France, and 
through delays, was ordered to be enclosed in 



40 OLD CANTERBURY. 

brickwork until proper arrangements were com- 
pleted. The peculiar position (out of line) and the 
plain brick wall and arch, without ornament or 
tablet for inscription, show that the temporary has 
become permanent ; France could rest without him ! 

Most church and cathedral towers are so con- 
structed that material required in the upper part of 
the structures can be hoisted to the top, through 
trap hatches in the floors and groinings of such 
towers, and ours are no exception to the rule. 

When standing on the steps at the east end 
of the nave, midway between the ponderous columns 
that support the Bell Harry Tower (or Angel 
Steeple) there is over head a large circular trap 
door, which is often removed when material is 
hoisted by means of the great wheel in the wheel- 
loft, from the steps below. Many people think the 
tower is built of stone, and that the four angle 
turrets are solid masonry. The upper part of the 
tower is lined with brick and the stone exterior is in 
many cases less than a foot in thickness. Three of 
the turrets are hollow, and one is vastly strengthened 
by having the stone circular staircase built within 
it. Some of the steps are so worn down by the 
tread of many feet during many centuries, that 
what was once about eight inches thick, has been 
reduced in the centre of the step to less than half 
the original dimension. The upper part of the 
tower is over four feet in thickness, and the whole 
structure is a noble piece of masonry, solidly and 
conscientiously put together (47). After the disast- 
rous fire in the roof at the east end in 1872, many 
relic hunters managed to secure enough of the 
charred oak to form a picture frame. As the lead 
roofing melted, some of the crevices in the wood 
filled with lead (47a). Defects of course there are, 
and these chiefly through the ignorance of that 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 4 1 

time. Wrought-iron ties and bolts, cramps and 
stays were let into the masonry with the best 
possible intention, but with very serious results, and 
many a good piece of Caen has been split and 
ruined through the oxidation of the cramps and 
other ironwork (48). 

The Doulting Freestone, which is replacing the 
decayed Caen in this present restoration, is being 
secured with copper, or other non-corrosive metal. 
This oolitic limestone contains about two per cent. 
of silica, and it is thought to be a better weathering 
stone than that from Caen (49). 

The stone used in the tower built by the late 
Mr. Austin, so lately as 1832, is said to have been 
of very poor quality, and much of it was not laid 
upon its natural bed. Consequently signs of decay 
are apparent on all sides, and many crockets and 
pinnacles have fallen to the ground. During the 
last few months some tons of half dislocated stones 
have been removed in order to ensure the safety of 
any who might walk below. 

There is a feeling in the city that it would be 
far better to drop the name of "Bell Harry Tower" 
(which means but little if anything) and revert to 
the old name of " Angel Steeple/' thus carrying 
back our thoughts to the time when the Norman 
tower was surmounted by the tall and graceful 
steeple, crowned with the gilded angel. 

The position of the Cathedral is by no means 
calculated to increase its charms. Built on the low 
ground, not many feet above the river level, it 
compares badly with Lincoln and other of our 
Cathedrals that were set upon a hill, and are visible 
for twenty miles around. 

If one might stretch a line from the hills on 
the north to the rising chalk grounds on the south, 
it might pass over our highest tower without shift- 



42 OLD CANTERBURY. 

ing the four vanes that act i always as the city's best 
guide to the direction of the wind ; these copper 
vanes look about six inches square, but in reality 
are over two feet high and nearly two feet wide. 
With the help of a good glass the ornamental 
edging of these vanes is very plainly seen ; also the 
stiffening cross rods on one side of each plate, the 
other side being left plain. 

The great structure has stood remarkably well, 
considering it is very largely built in what might be 
looked upon as the ancient river bed. It is said 
that when the north-west or Arundel tower was to 
be rebuilt some seventy years ago, excavations 
were made to secure a firmer foundation than the 
old Norman structure enjoyed, and in digging down 
through the black mud to find a bottom, the exca- 
vators came across an old headgear, which on 
being removed, showed the top of a man's head 
underneath ; on removal of more black mud, the 
entire remains of a man, clothed in a suit of leather 
came to light, the man was standing upright. Near 
this prehistoric specimen were found remains of two 
oxen. Conjecture says, " there was once a man 
travelling across what now we call Canterbury ; the 
ground was soft and boggy, he had two oxen with 
him, (of a cart there was no proof) when he arrived 
at this particular spot, this terra ftrma selected for 
the erection of a great stone temple, weighing 
several hundred thousand tons, he found his own 
weight too much for the ground to carry, and before 
he could extricate himself, both he and his oxen 
sank into the quagmire, and none was there to 
help." It is possible that he did not even shout, 
for at this remote period, it is hardly likely there 
was anyone about to hear. 

Considering the condition of the site, can we 
wonder that the walls, and columns cease to be truly 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 43 

perpendicular? The wonder is that they stand so 
well, and there are less ominous fractures in the 
vaulting over the nave and choir and transepts of 
Canterbury Cathedral, than can be seen in the 
Cathedrals of St. Albans, Worcester, Gloucester, 
Lichfield, Hereford, Southwell and others, some of 
which call for urgent attention, in order to avoid a 
catastrophe such as took place at Ely many years 
ago. 

It is interesting to see still growing at the side 
of the old Rectory House at St. Stephens, a vener- 
able mulberry tree that the late Mrs. de Chair Baker 
pointed out as having been planted by Erasmus, a 
great Dutch scholar of the time of the Reformation. 
The house is also of note, in that two or more 
Archbishops have died there. 

St. Stephen's (or Hackington) is of peculiar 
interest to all who appreciate associations with the 
past. It was a favoured spot. There is the meadow 
where that brilliant tournament was held by King 
Edward III. in 1347. Here still stands the church 
that might have been elsewhere had it not been 
for the determination of the parishioners. It is said 
that the lordly owner of Hales Place required the 
removal of the Protestant Church, as it spoiled his 
view from the new mansion, and although he offered 
a free site, where it would be, from his home, quite 
invisible, and perhaps promised to defray the larger 
share of the cost of rebuilding, he was not allowed 
to get his way. Then said he, " it shall be hidden 
from the gaze of men/' and the belt of lime trees he 
planted all around the churchyard wall, make the 
church almost invisible, until the visitor gets fairly 
close to it. A very interesting article on this quaint 
spot can be seen in " Rambles Round Old Canter- 
bury," which also mentions the finely carved 
wooden representation of the skeleton of the founder 



44 OLD CANTERBURY. 

of Almshouses there. Sir Roger Manwood not 
only was a great benefactor to St. Stephen's, but 
founded the Grammar School at Sandwich in 
addition to other good works. 

In pulling down and rebuilding a house near 
St. George's Terrace, the cellar walls were found 
good and strong enough to carry the new super- 
structure, and in those walls can be seen to-day 
what the architect pronounced to be a Saxon arch, 
a relic of a thousand years ago. The wall is built 
of rough stones, and this very rude attempt to arch 
over a recess in the wall, suggests that the builder 
of that day had no tools to fashion the stones into 
the usual wedge shape, but somehow or other, he 
contrived to make them set where he placed them, 
and when the old house was down, a photograph was 
secured of this specimen of ancient masonry (50). 

In Rhodaus Town stand three houses built in 
1885 of red brick with tile roofs. Three older houses 
were pulled down to give place to the present 
structures. In demolishing these houses it was 
found that the walls, which were of considerable 
thickness, were built of stone from some older 
building. From the design of the mouldings, 
carved lions, caps and bases of columns, apex and 
knee stones, copings, quoins, nearly all in Caen 
stone, the late Dr. Sheppard was fully convinced 
that the stone had been brought from the ruins of 
the church of St. Edmund, destroyed some hun- 
dreds of years ago, within a stone's throw, on the 
Dane John. The head of a bishop wearing the 
mitre (51), and of a knight with a studded casque 
(52), together with broken polished shafts of Pur- 
beck marble (53) all helped to strongly confirm the 
theory. A carved head of a cherub was subsequently 
unearthed in the back garden (54). The cellar 
walls of these houses were not disturbed, and are 




SAXON ARCH. 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 45 

constructed of similar oddments of carved and 
ashlar stone. About a hundred cartloads of the 
old stone were distributed over Canterbury, and 
maybe in many rockery gardens is a relic of old 
St. Edmund's Church. 

When the order was given to build the four 
salesmen's offices (another has since been added) 
under the St. George's Terrace, and approached 
from the Cattle Market, no one could be found, 
from the City Surveyor downwards, who could tell 
the thickness of the old wall, or the material 
forming the elevated foot-road. The wall proved 
to be of solid flint formation, eight feet thick at the 
level of the market, and tapering to less than half 
that thickness at the top. There being no object 
in going deeper, it is matter for conjecture how 
much lower the wall was built. 

Nothing but flint, bedded in the solid mortar 
of a bygone age, was found in the tough old wall, 
with one most interesting exception. A stone, in 
shape something like half a Dutch cheese, flat 
on one side, and roughly spherical at the back or 
bottom, came to light in the middle of the wall. It 
had been tooled or fashioned into shape : none of 
the other stones had been altered in any way since 
their formation in the chalk, this one alone called 
for comment. It was nearly a foot in diameter on 
the flat side, in the centre of which was a hole 
about an inch deep, and was pronounced to be a 
Roman nether mill-stone, upon which the upper 
stone revolved. It certainly was flint, but had a 
very different tale to tell from that of any of the 
surrounding flints. It was a conglomerate flint, 
having travelled far and suffered much in being 
crushed and crumbled by a mighty torrent, and 
when at last it found rest in some gravel bed, the 
pebbles became cemented together into a soli^l 



40 OLD CANTERBURY. 

mass, probably by infiltration of oxide of iron, and 
gave it the present appearance of what some people 
call " pudding stone." How long this old specimen 
did duty as a mill stone will never be told, one 
thing is certain, it was old and considered worth- 
less when our city wall was built, and has remained 
hidden for several centuries (55). 

In our own day the face of the city wall has 
been very largely restored, the mortar being unable 
to stand against the disintegrating effects of the 
rain. The valerian which grows in- the joints, 
sending its root fibres into the mortar, causes it to 
perish and crumble away. 

One of the most interesting spots, from an 
antiquarian standpoint, might perhaps be what is 
known as Pin Hill, and the rising ground on the 
south of the moat along the approach to the station 
now called Canterbury East. From time to time 
during the progress of work in this neighbourhood, 
many Roman skeletons and funeral urns have been 
discovered. On the wrist bone of what might have 
been part of a Roman lady were found two golden 
amulets : trinkets and articles of adornment also 
came to light. Some of the well-known brilliant 
red Samian ware, with the usual highly glazed 
surface was found here, it being ornamented with 
grotesque figures, and on one broken vase was 
depicted a lion hunt. Much excavated earth was 
thrown into the moat, and many bones, but the 
latter were extremely brittle and soon yielded to 
the air. About 1878 it was proposed to fill up the 
moat, and for some years earth was allowed to be 
shot in that portion which has become one of the 
city's yards for the storage of road materials. 

For many years the moat had served as a fruit 
and kitchen garden, and was let to a well-known 
Canterbury market gardener. The scene has again 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 47 

changed, and visitors as well as residents are highly 
pleased to see the sloping banks so well and taste- 
fully laid out in grass and beds of flowers. The 
general effect of this new garden as viewed from 
the terrace and the mound is very charming. 

The city's antiquities are not always so jealously 
cared for by the citizens as they should be. It is 
stated that on one occasion a large package of 
Roman and other remains was sent to London, 
and, although the distant antiquarian sent a small 
donation to the Hospital in exchange, these inter- 
esting objects were lost to the city. 

The Roman cinerary urns were usually round- 
shaped vases, in which they attempted to preserve 
the ashes and remains of deceased relatives or 
friends, after they had been burnt upon the funeral 
pile. These were chiefly made of red or bluish- 
gray color, but for persons of high station urns 
were made of brass and silver, and sometimes of 
gold. That it was not the custom in every case to 
cremate, is evident in the fact that excavations 
made in places of Roman sepulture, show that urns 
were buried in the midst of graves containing entire 
bodies. Skeletons at full length are often found 
which are undoubtedly Roman. In one case only, 
so far as is known, was there any trace of a coffin 
made of wood. About four feet below the ground, 
over the skeleton of a full-grown Roman there was 
a thin black layer of what might have been a plank. 
In appearance it was organic matter and not likely 
to have been the remains, after so many years, of 
the usual wicker basket coffin. 

In disturbing the ground of such an ancient 
city as Canterbury it is not surprising to find that 
in so many places interments have taken place. 
The most primitive way of burying, because the most 
simple, was that of committing the body to earth, 



4» OLD CANTERBURY. 

without either embalming or burning. The Romans 
buried some and burned some. The Saxons, Danes 
and other northern nations burned their dead in 
accordance with the law of Woden. The Gauls 
and Britons did the same, and the ashes carefully 
gathered by the friends of the deceased were 
deposited in an urn. Some were placed in an 
earthen pot, and where it was a case of the 
mourners being in haste, or perhaps for want of 
wealth to buy the vessel, the ashes were simply 
raked together and buried in the earth. It was a 
common practice of the Saxons and Danes to bury 
with the dead, knives, arrow and spear heads, 
swords, axes, and other implements of war. 

When the old Red Lion Inn disappeared 
from the High Street in 1806, in order to open the 
new thoroughfare we call Guildhall Street, it is 
very probable that the Medical Hall was built. It 
was in the coaching days, and this building was 
erected as the Lion Hotel, with its roadway under 
the arch, allowing coaches to pass through what is 
now a milliner's establishment. One of the chim- 
ney pieces in a large room on the first floor bears a 
carved lion on the frieze, doubtless the emblem 
might have been conspicuous in other parts of this 
well-built block. 

A coach road formerly passed through the 
centre of what is now the County Hotel, and many 
other similar roads have been blocked and are 
quite forgotten. 

It is said that Church Street (St. Paul's) con- 
tinued in the direction for Deal, right through the 
large archway forming part of the private house in 
the St. Augustine's Gateway; the monks diverting 
this road, and forming the present Longport Street. 

Great carelessness, perhaps through ignorance, 
was made by our forefathers in the manner of 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 49 

closing wells that had become contaminated by 
organic matter, or for other reasons were no longer 
required. In many cases they are found in most 
unexpected places, and are often dangerous. 

Five and twenty years ago, a gentleman pur- 
chased a residence with several acres of ground 
adjoining the city ; the dining room being small 
he added a large bay window in brick-work, and 
continued it to the upper floor. In 1905, during 
some excavations for re-drainage, a hole was found 
close to the bay window, and on examination a 
large well was seen immediately under the walls, 
and no dome or stone to close the well over. It is 
presumed that this well, like most others, was 
covered with some planks, and the earth thrown 
over the top, and forgotten. 

In the country, wells are generally a little dis- 
tance from the dwelling, but in the city they are 
very usually inside the houses, or under the back 
wall. It was a custom in building a row of dwell- 
ings to dig the well under the party wall, so that a 
pump could be worked from both houses. 

Other places have proved as dangerous as this, 
in so much that reports are often to hand of wells 
being found where they were not expected. Mr. 
Browne, a Canterbury man, tells how he went to 
one of the near towns some few years back to get 
a piece of machinery. The foreman of the engin- 
eering works was showing him the stock in the 
large yard, but was called back to the office leaving 
Mr. Browne to measure the machine till he returned. 
Mr. Browne relates that no sooner had the foreman 
disappeared than he began to disappear : the ground 
sank beneath his feet, and before he could recover 
himself he was hanging on his elbows, with 
his legs dangling below and his feet unable to 
touch terra fir ma. How he scrambled out he does 



50 OLD CANTERBURY. 

not remember : no one was in sight, and on com- 
plaining to the foreman, he said, " Ah ! yes, there 
is an old wheel-pit somewhere there." Mr. Browne 
told him he ought not to leave such places un- 
covered, but being only a shallow wheel-pit, thought 
no more about it except for a few cuts and bruises. 

Twelve months after, Mr. Browne had occasion 
to visit the same works, and when the clerk heard 
who he was, remarked, "Oh! are you the gentleman 
who slipped down our well last year r " Needless 
to say, Mr. Browne was horrified to think of what 
he had escaped a year before, and got but little sleep 
that night. The well was deep, and if there ever 
was a case of providential deliverance, here was one. 

All old wells should either be filled up solid, 
or domed in brick, or covered with York stone, and 
anyone who covers with timber, and buries that 
with earth, deserves to be treated as a criminal. 

St. Augustine's Grounds, St. Peter's Place, 
North Lane, and some other of the low level 
streets, have within the memory of hundreds, now 
residing in Canterbury, suffered in the time of 
flood. After heavy rains, the river would overflow 
its banks to such a degree that many of the inhabi- 
tants leaving their homes as usual for the day's 
work would have to return at night by boat. It 
was a usual occurrence after abnormal downfalls 
for boats to be seen floating down the streets, 
carrying children home from school, supplies for 
the household, and whatever else required to be 
moved. Of later years, however, this inconvenience 
has been altogether avoided not only by the forma- 
tion of a short cut for storm water at Pound Lane, 
but by a cleansing and dredging of the river bed 
within the city, and by the better regulations 
enforced upon the millers for the opening ot the 
floodgates. 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 51 

One other important factor in the prevention 
of flood is the making of the railway embankments 
on the south and east of the city. This, although 
of course quite unintentionally, has considerably 
checked the natural drainage in its rush from the 
slopes to the river, and to a large extent prevents 
the glut that in former days did so much damage. 
Through the silting up of the bed at the river's 
mouth the fall has been greatly diminished and the 
current much impeded, and it is considered pretty 
good work to run at the speed it does when its 
mouth is but twenty-eight feet lower than its bed 
on the eastern side of the city. We are told that 
Stour means "stirring" or "rapid," and that the 
name was given by the Saxons after the Roman 
galleys sailed through the Wantsum, and the mouth 
of the river was at Stourmouth ; then, no doubt, 
our stream deserved its name ! 

In July of 1899 a most unusual phenomenon 
was experienced in the city, when, with very little 
warning, a heavy thunderstorm burst over the south 
side of the city, accompanied by hailstones so large 
that hundreds of greenhouses were ruined, fruit and 
crops suffered severely, and rain fell so heavily for 
about an hour, that being unable to soak into the 
ground it gathered in the gutters and formed a 
swirling torrent in the Old Dover Road, tearing up 
the macadam, reaching from side to side until it 
filled the City Moat and expended itself in the 
Cattle Market, which it covered with mud and 
anything else it could carry in its mad career. 
Such a sight had rarely been seen before. On 
another occasion, when the ground was covered 
with snow, and hard with a frost of several days' 
duration, a sudden thaw set in, and being unable 
to get into the hard ground the water rushed along 
the roads and filled the City Moat once more. 



52 OLD CANTERBURY. 

Between King's Bridge and the Poor Priests' 
Hospital stands perhaps the most venerable masonry 
that has supported one of the many ways across 
our little stream, and this one (which although 
approached by a private road may be seen for the 
asking) apparently has attracted but little notice. 
From its position and formation there is a strong 
suspicion that a drawbridge once completed the 
communication between the city and the island. 
Remains of old bridge piers may be seen at various 
points from Howfield to Sturry Road, but in most 
cases both the bridge and the road have long since 
disappeared. 

Round about the city we notice certain boun- 
dary stones bearing the legend of three C.s. For 
the information of juniors it might be stated that it 
has no reference to the three choughs which figure 
on the city arms, nor to Christ Church Cathedral, 
but is there to remind us that King Edward IV. in 
his wisdom honoured this stronghold by creating it 
a county in its own right, and as a result of this 
great honour the Asylum for the County of Kent 
refuses to accommodate our lunatics, and leaves us 
the privilege as a county to build and run our own 
asylum at Stone House, which, we are given to 
understand, is the smallest institution of its sad kind 
in the country. C. C. C. marks the boundaries of 
the City and County of Canterbury. 

Everyone has read how the first Eddystone 
Lighthouse was built, and how it perished ; number 
two was equally unfortunate ; but number three, 
dovetailed into the solid rock by the very ingenious 
engineer, Smeaton, has stood the te^t of time midst 
storm and wave. Ramsgate pier was another of 
his works, and these are noted because it is not 
generally remembered that the same master-mind 
planned the Great Mill, with its octagonal lantern, 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 53 

at the end of Pound Lane. Canterbury can show 
its "Smeaton" work, dating from 1791. 

In carrying out various alterations, or in course 
of re-building premises in the city, it is no more 
than natural to expect to find some old relic of the 
past. Such relics now and then appear ; it may be 
an old roasting spit (56), or a gilded dress sword 
with a thick back, almost perished with age and 
minus the handle, but showing provision for being 
secured to a handle of wood (57). In one old roof 
two workmen's bills were discovered, made out in 
1692. One of these begins, "Mr. Woodgit his 
bill." The first item is 

£ s. d. 

'•for a i d - of nayles . . . . 001" 

On each line is seen the fact entered as above that 
there are no pounds, on all but four lines it is 
recorded there are no shillings, and the eighteen 
charges on this bill amount to £0 8s. id. The 
largest item on the bill is one of £0 is. 3d. for "6 
dayes," and it may be that the worker at this wage 
was quite as happy as the man who now requires 
from twenty to thirty times as much (58). 

In a dark corner of another house two curious 
articles were found which for a long time were 
somewhat of a riddle. One day they were shown 
to a hairdresser, and he soon decided they were 
" heaters " used in curling the wigs in the time of 
the Commonwealth, when five shilling pieces were 
coined in gold (59). 

A very interesting object was found in the roof 
of the Cathedral in the last century, showing at 
least three points worthy of note. It is a sample of 
one of the earliest attempts in the production of 
wall-paper, and was produced by cutting a pattern 
on a wooden block, fifteen inches long by twelve 
inches wide, rubbing some ink upon it, and then 



54 OLD CANTERBURY. 

pressing the block on the paper. In this case the 
design is the royal arms of King James I., a large 
vase of conventional flowers and emblems fills the 
centre, while a lion with his back to the vase peace- 
fully lies at full length in one corner, and a unicorn 
in a similar attitude in the opposite corner. The 
two upper corners are occupied by birds of the 
crow type, one having a large fish in its bill, the 
other attempting to swallow a berry or some kind 
of fruit. It has been suggested that the design 
might be valued by the ladies who are often looking 
for something new in needlework (60). Paper in 
those days was too costly to waste, and was often 
used for two or more purposes. This piece has a 
workman's bill written across it, and shows not 
only the style of ordinary penmanship of that time, 
but throws light on the kind of work done, and the 
charges made for it. The old writing is not so easy 
to decipher as some might imagine, and the spelling 
is somewhat comical according to present ideas of 
what is correct. The bill is dated 1621. 

Occasionally the old Dutch tiles are found, but 
mostly of the usual well-known patterns and blue 
colour. Their chief use appears to have been for 
the decoration of fire-place openings before the 
days of stoves, when wood burned brightly on the 
hearth, the large old ornamental back of iron threw 
out the heat, and the quaint iron dogs supported 
the ends of the burning logs. Sometimes the 
walls of larders in well-appointed houses were lined 
with these glazed tiles, and a very good example 
of such was removed some twelve years back from 
a house near Burgate Street. Sixteen tiles about 
five inches square went to make up the design of a 
horse under which is imprinted the legend " De 
Swarte Hengst," it also gives the artist's name and 
Rotterdam. Another set shows the opposite side 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 55 

of a horse under which appears the legend " De 
Swarten Hengst." Both panels measure about 
twenty inches square (61). 

Roman tiles come to light occasionally. Those 
found were chiefly made for paving, some consist of 
a geometrical design put on the main tile in a kind 
of a veneer with pigments in the clay (62), others 
show the deep scoring in the plastic clay to form a 
key for better fixing (63). 

Comparatively few relics are left to remind us 
of the " Convent of Monkes," described in the 
u Cathedrall Newes from Canterbvry " as being 
" idolatrous, proud, lazie, covetous monkes." No 
doubt some of them may have deserved such a 
character sheet, but let us hope they were the 
exception and not the rule. If it were not for such 
men, who had knowledge and great experience of 
continental architecture, and who could and did 
plan and execute with their own hands such prodi- 
gies in stone as we see in the cathedrals and 
monastic ruins, our country would not be, as it is 
to-day, the envy of the Americans and Colonials, 
whose new lands are entirely destitute of such 
soul- inspiring " glories in stone " as grace this 
island home of ours. 

If one were to open a certain doorway in a 
certain wall not far from the east end of the Cathe- 
dral, a smiling face, draped in the costume of the 
day, would be seen looking down from the wall 
above this door as though to take note of all 
intruders. Some years ago, permission was given 
to the late Mr. Cole to take a cast of this head, 
which he was told represented a certain popular 
cook, the prior's chef, who would no doubt greatly 
feel his importance when preparing for the many 
feasts and banquets that seem to have been the 
order of that day just before the dissolution of the 
abbeys in the reign of Henry VIII (64). 



CHAPTER V. 

SIDE LIGHTS. 

TT is presumed that Kent is indebted to its Jutish 
■*■ King Hen gist for its crest of the White Horse, 
and to the brave men of Kent themselves for the 
proud motto beneath : — "Invicta" means "uncon- 
quered" (65). In early times the Kentish men had 
won for themselves such renown as warriors, before 
the Norman invasion, that they claimed the right 
of always being placed in the very front of battle. 
At the battle of Hastings they were in this position, 
and William's men, when endeavouring to land at 
Romney before the great fight, were not only kept 
at sea but actually repulsed by Kentish men. 

Although it would be superfluous to explain 
the significance of the emblems making up the 
arms of the city to the inhabitants of the city of 
Canterbury, it might be of interest to visitors to 
know that the lion indicates royalty, and shows 
that Canterbury was the favoured place of residence 
of many kings ; the crown is of Saxon type, and 
reminds us of the Saxon kings who made this city 
their capitol ; the birds are not the black crows, 
so common in these parts, as some suppose, but are 
three " choughs " borrowed from the arms of St. 
Thomas a Becket, and as we owe so much to that 
prelate, perhaps more through his death than from 
his actions during life, it is very fitting that the 
choughs should walk from the Archbishop's crest 
to the heraldic arms of the City, which drew for 
many generations such vast numbers of pilgrims to 



SIDE LIGHTS. 57 

view what was perhaps the most wonderful shrine 
ever seen outside the church of the Holy Sepulchre 
in Jerusalem (66). The chough does not belong to 
Canterbury, but is found in Wales and is common 
on the rocky coasts of Devon and Cornwall. It is 
in size between a jackdaw and a rook, is of a 
metallic black lustre, and has bright red legs and 
bill. The bird is of an ancient stock, for its name 
is derived from the Saxon. Canterbury claims to 
be the oldest of the English cities, and its arms 
very properly symbolise antiquity — Church and 
State (67). The motto, "Ave, Mater Anglise," 
being interpreted in the vulgar tongue means 
"Hail, Mother of England." 

It would be difficult to say whether the Canter- 
bury of to-day owes more to the tragic departure 
of the prelate of the three choughs, or to the 
arrival of the Walloons and Huguenots. Most 
certainly the " seven years of plenty " followed each 
event. Everyone has heard of the massacre of the 
French Protestants on the Eve of St. Bartholomew, 
1572. There is in Canterbury a facsimile of the 
medal struck by order of Pope Gregory XIII to 
commemorate this slaughter of some 30,000 Protest- 
ants during the marriage festivities of their chief, 
Henry of Navarre, in Paris. It is said that this 
butchery was instigated by Catherine of Medici, 
and the order was given by King Charles IX. At 
a signal the cry was raised " Death to the Hugue- 
nots ! " and no quarter was given to man, woman, 
or child. The great Colig'ni fell, and many more 
of note. It bears on the obverse the portrait of the 
Pope, on the reverse the Destroying Angel, in his 
right hand a sword, in the left a cross, and the 
words VGONOTTORVM — STRAGES 1572 (68). 

The Walloons were French-speaking inhabi- 
tants of the Spanish Netherlands, mostly from 



58 OLD CANTERBURY. 

provinces now included in France. Many had 
suffered from the first stress of the Terror under 
Philip II, and were witnesses of the awful cruelties 
by which the Reformation was stamped out of the 
Walloon provinces, and thousands of Protestants 
were driven into exile. Many soon found their way 
to Canterbury. On their arrival the " Strangers " 
were allowed to use St. Alphage Church for wor- 
ship, but their numbers continually increasing they 
were granted the western part of the crypt of the 
Cathedral as their special church or temple, and 
ever since 1576 their descendants have worshipped 
there, sometimes numbering as many as three 
thousand persons and over a thousand communi- 
cants. Originally the temple included seven bays 
of Ernulf 's crypt, across its entire breadth ; but in 
the early part of the last century, the congregation 
having become small, the south aisle was enclosed 
for their use. Since 189.5 the church has been 
removed to the Black Prince's Chantry. 

As another proof that civilisation travels west- 
ward, these Walloons established themselves here 
as manufacturers of silk and wool serges, ribbons, 
lace, woollen cloth, and at a later date became 
weavers of the choicest figured and brocaded silks 
(69). In many of the old houses in Canterbury 
mementos of this past industry may be observed 
by people who having eves know how to use 
them. No great factory enclosed the two thousand 
looms and their industrious workers, but they were 
scattered all over the city, and some indeed outside 
the city walls. The most common objects connected 
with their work, perhaps, are the long needles made 
of lead wire, flattened and holed at one end, (70) 
and with the needles are often found the small lead 
weights, also holed at a flattened end. Such relics 
as these are constantly turning up in old floors and 



SIDE LIGHTS. 59 

roofs and chimneys (71). Old timbers have been 
partially cut away as in the roof of the Grey Friars' 
House, and it is stated that in all probability this 
was to accommodate a loom. Many of the old 
gabled houses have the top window made as a door, 
down to the level of the floor, as at 37 High Street 
(72), through which the bales of goods could be 
lowered into the street below, or the raw material 
raised to the top floor. 

Although we have " Cotton Mill" houses along 
the Broad Oak Road, (the mill has gone) and a 
revival of the work at the Canterbury Weavers at 
King's Bridge, the real industry has vanished, but 
it was slow in the going. A gentleman yet living 
in our midst, is pleased to relate how his grand- 
mother, when a girl, used to watch the cavalcade of 
mules, four abreast, reaching from Westgate to St. 
Dunstan's Church, all packed with goods for 
London ! This is indeed a link not very far removed. 
This merry party wisely arranged to go in a large 
company once a week, for those were the days of 
highwaymen, and many a bale of silk was lost when 
traders risked the road alone. It is said that no 
English nor foreign wardrobe was considered com- 
plete in those days, unless it contained at least one 
Canterbury silk, and one Canterbury muslin (73). 
The following extract will be interesting to show 
what sort of men they had as ministers : — 

" Jean Cousin, one of the Ministers of French 
Walloon Church, named in list of ministers and 
communicants supplied to Grindal in 1568 at 
request of Queen Elizabeth. Grindal's opinion of 
Jean Cousin is shown in his letter to Beza in 1568 
as follows — Master John Cousin, the most faithful 
minister of the French Church in this country has 
this day shown me a letter that he has written to 
you on the state of the Dutch Church in London. 



60 OLD CANTERBURY. 

The subject alluded to was the controversial war 
then raging on Doctrinal Questions. Jean Cousin 
also interposed with Lord Burleigh and obtained 
the liberation of all the refugees detained in prison 
for debt ; his correspondence was often associated 
with letters from the Queen and Beza." 

Signed — S. W. Kershaw, F.S.A. 
If Canterbury cannot show among its antiqui- 
ties an old building like the Jews House on Steep 
Hill, Lincoln, it has at least its "Jewry" Lane, and 
for centuries the Jews have carried on their trading 
in the City. Their Synagogue in King's Street 
may not at this time be used to its utmost capacity, 
as the Rabbi is not allowed to preach unless ten 
men or more are present, (the women and the 
children are not counted) and it is somewhat of a 
drawback to the attendance that their Sabbath falls 
on our busy market day. Among the ancient 
customs still observed by the Jews might be men- 
tioned the fact that their meat is always killed in 
the orthodox fashion by the hand of the orthodox 
Rabbi, and it must be done with a very sharp long 
blade, without the least suspicion of a gap upon the 
keen cold edge. If upon close examination of the 
flesh, and testing of the lungs and other organs, the 
slightest trace of disease is seen, the whole carcase 
is rejected, (for the benefit of the Gentiles) and 
another is slain by the Rabbi. When proved to be 
perfectly free from disease the joints are marked in 
ink with the word " Kosher " in Hebrew characters, 
and that word upon the meat must be seen by all 
good Jews when marketing. There are those resid- 
ing in the City who remember the old synagogue 
with its tall round tower, which stood on the site of 
the present railway station near Kirby's Lane, and 
it may be owing to the Reform Act of 1832, that 
the Jews were allowed to have their Synagogue 
within the city walls. 



SIDE LIGHTS.. 6 1 

In 1832 considerable excitement was caused by 
the arrival in Canterbury of a big powerful man, 
with long flowing hair, dressed in sheepskin, and 
armed with sword and pistols. He came from 
Truro in Cornwall, his name was Thorn, but he 
styled himself Sir William Courtenay, Knight of 
Malta, and a quaint picture (74) may be seen of his 
burly form, on the balcony of the Rose Hotel, 
addressing the crowds below as their Parliamentary 
candidate, but his eloquence was not sufficient to 
secure the coveted seat. 

Shortly after this, he was committed to Maid- 
stone gaol for perjury, but as it was thought his 
mind was affected, he was transferred to Barming 
Lunatic Asylum. After some four years, he was 
released as cured, and began a career as a reformer, 
played on the imagination and superstition of the 
rustics, made all sorts of promises to them, and 
became their hero. Then he posed as prophet, 
priest and king, for these rustics thoroughly believed 
all the nonsense he told them, and would go any- 
where, and do anything for him. At this time he 
occupied Bosenden Farm, and a large number of 
devotees stood by him. Courtenay told the people 
they were being robbed and starved, and that he 
would save them from their oppressors. Not only 
did he cause a pole to be carried before him, on the 
end of which was a loaf of bread, and which he 
used as his standard, but he led disorderly process- 
ions through the villages in the Boughton district, 
and his speeches to the crowds of his simple 
admirers were of such a nature that the magistrates 
were compelled to restrain his misdirected zeal. 

A warrant was issued for his arrest, as a dis- 
turber of the peace, and a constable named Mears 
was sent to Boughton to take him into custody. 
Mears was a married man, and was in no particular 



62 OLD CANTERBURY. 

haste to secure this popular hero, he thought of his 
wife and children, and did not forget that Courtenay 
carried loaded pistols in his belt. While, hesitating, 
to his honour be it recorded, a younger brother 
volunteered to don the policeman's clothes, for said 
he : "I have no wife nor children, and if the rascal 
shoots me, it will not matter quite so much." This 
generous offer was accepted, Mears, junior, went to 
take him, but Courtenay's aim was true and Mears 
fell mortally wounded, a splendid instance of self- 
sacrifice and brotherly love (75). 

As Courtenay refused to surrender to the 
Authorities, soldiers were sent for, and a hundred 
left our barracks in command of Lieutenant Bennett. 
Courtenay was encamped with his numerous devoted 
followers in Bosenden Woods, and they were armed 
with forks, scythes, clubs and farm tools. When 
near enough for parley, Lieutenant Bennett stepped 
forward and in the name of the Queen demanded 
Courtenay to surrender, but instead of doing so, he 
shot the officer dead, whereupon the Sergeant 
immediately fired and killed Courtenay. When the 
rustics saw their champion laid low, they were too 
enraged to control themselves, and a fierce battle 
ensued which lasted from noon till nearly dark. 
Eight of Courtenay's men were killed and seven 
wounded. Two soldiers lost their lives and six were 
wounded. 

This affray is sometimes called the Battle of 
Bosenden, the last fought on English ground, and 
the casualties were as many as were recorded in 
some of the great fights of the Middle Ages. 

Several yet alive remember going to Dunkirk 
after the fight, and seeing the dead warriors lying 
on the stable straw. The graves in the adjoining 
churchyard are yet pointed out, but no stone or 
memorial appears to mark their soon to be forgotten 



SIDE LIGHTS. 63 

resting place. It is said that Courtenay had told 
the rustics that even were he killed, and buried, he 
should, like Christ, rise again in a few days, and for 
a considerable period after the interment, some of 
his simple followers watched the grave, expecting 
their hero to come forth. Was it to make doubly 
sure of this deceiver, that his heart was taken out 
and put in spirit r He was a big man, and had an 
abnormally large heart, and may be the doctors had 
a right to it (76). 

The wounded in the fight were brought to 
Longport prison, and those who saw them arrive, 
describe their pitiable condition, with broken jaws 
and gaping wounds. 

It has always been a difficult matter to get 
information about those who were mixed up in this 
struggle, for those whose fathers and brothers took 
part in the fight, naturally shrank from referring to 
the subject, for some were sent to prison and others 
were transported for life. One at least of the latter 
did well in Australia and left a fortune behind him. 

The Sergeant who shot Courtenay was soon 
promoted and became Major Roach, and resided for 
many years after his retirement, in the Old Dover 
Road. 

In the North Aisle of the nave of the Cathedral 
(behind the new memorial pulpit) is a mural tablet 
to Lieutenant Bennett of the 45th Regt., recording 
how on the 31st May, 1838, he "fell in the strict 
and manly discharge of his duty" and was buried 
within the cloisters. 

It is related that he not only was expecting to 
be shortly married, but like Mears, volunteered for 
duty that was not required of him ; so fell two brave 
young Englishmen. 

In excavating for a new residence in private 
grounds on the eastern side of the city and within a 



64 OLD CANTERBURY. 

quarter of a mile of its walls, a large accumulation 
of human bones was uncovered. To all appearances 
a great pit had been dug, and scores of bodies 
thrown indiscriminately into it. The only explana- 
tion offered was that there had been an outbreak of 
plague, and this was the spot where many of the 
victims had been buried. 

It is little wonder that we read in the Guides — 
" Canterbury has been visited more than once by 
the Plague or Black Death." If it were not for the 
tragic side, it would be almost amusing to remember 
that when such epidemics broke out, the Dane John 
of all places was covered with " Plague Tents " for 
the isolation of the patients. Female inspectors 
and nurses, wisely appointed by the authorities, did 
according to their knowledge, but it is not on record 
that any one of them suggested the removal of the 
" plague camp " to higher ground. We think of the 
" Black Dike " that cut through the Dane John, and 
what it contained in the way of organic matter from 
the city ; we also remember the thick stagnant 
water in the moat on the outer side of the wall. 
The unlucky cats and dogs butchered at the city's 
cost of two shillings by the poor discarded Friar 
Hull had to be dragged somewhere, is it likely they 
would find a resting place but in this same u Black 
Dike ! " Shut in on every side, the gunpowder ex- 
ploded to purge the air, might make a current for a 
moment, but could not do much to remove the 
emanations from these pestilential ditches. And so 
our fathers died and were buried ! 

" There was a period of a thousand years," says 
Prof. Laynard " during the dark middle ages, when 
not a man or woman in Europe ever took a bath y and 
during a century of that time, it lost forty millions 
of its population by plague — the disease of excessive 
filth. Now, plenty of good air, good water, and the 



SIDE LIGHTS. 65 

removal of all garbage from the interior and 
exterior of dwellings, form the conditions of public, 
as well as of private health — in one Avord, clea?ili?zess 
in our towns and in our persons/' 

Canterbury, in common with all England, has 
always more or less suffered from that painful and 
dangerous scourge known as scurvy. Its ravages 
on land were serious and fatal enough, but at sea 
they were far worse, and heart-rending tales of 
suffering could be multiplied. Even as recently as 
the time of Lord Anson, scurvy was so fatal, that 
during the first two years of his voyage, he lost 
more than four fifths of his original crew. 

Thanks, however, to the introduction into this 
country of the Swede Turnip, scurvy has practically 
disappeared. Up to that time there was next to 
nothing on which to feed the cattle during the six 
winter months, consequently when keep and fodder 
failed, the stock was slaughtered, huge brine tubs 
were in requisition, and salt meat was the order of the 
day. Agriculture too was at a low ebb, vegetables 
were scarce, and if it had not been for game and 
coarse fish there would have been no variety, so far 
as flesh food was concerned, nearly all provisions 
for the winter being salted. 

Canterbury has its " Moat" Farm, and that at 
the top of a hill, where it is not always expected to 
find a constant supply of water. 

In the times of salt meat, moats were exceed- 
ingly common. Many country houses stood on 
artificial islands, not so much as a means of defence, 
as for the fish food produced in the waters of the moat. 

In removing an ancient dwelling near the High 
Street, an old file was found containing receipts for 
the payment of the Window Tax (77). Our fore- 
fathers in 1696, had somewhat primitive ideas on the 
necessity of light and air, but with an eye to busi- 



66 OLD CANTERBURY. 

ness passed a law, the results of which are yet 
evident all over our city in the many window blanks 
of the older houses (78). Owners having two win- 
dows in one room, preferred to brick up one and 
save the tax, so that many arches and window sills 
can now be seen with walling in between, and in 
some cases, perhaps to relieve monotony, are painted 
black on plaster work, with lines of white to repre- 
sent the window bars (79). 

No doubt from such mansions as Chatsworth, 
with its two hundred and eighty windows, and some 
with more than twice that number, the tax produced 
a good round sum. In 1834, the net amount in 
England and Wales exceeded a million and a quarter 
sterling. Fifty years before this date, the duty was 
taken off tea and a double tax put on windows. 
The " good old times " indeed ! Is it possible that 
anyone privileged to live in the present, could 
honestly long for the past ? 

Fifty years back, who thought of building a 
bath-room to his house ? To-day, where is the 
landlord who can let a house of twenty pounds 
rental without a bath room ? 

The " good old times " indeed ! Many of the 
living rooms not more than two yards high ; floors, 
(if anything but earth), damp bricks ; moisture 
sucked up from the ground, reeking from the walls, 
windows often so low, that inmates stooped to get 
a view, light and air so valuable that both paid 
heavy toll. Under such conditions, it is not sur- 
prising that the "great unwashed" were occasionally 
decimated by disease, the wonder is that some were 
left to tell the tale. 

There was, however, at least one redeeming 
feature in the old English houses. No one living 
saw them built, but it is presumed that an enormous 
chimney stack was first erected, with flues large 



SIDE LIGHTS., . 67 

enough for a man to climb, and round this wonder- 
ful and marvellous structure, the house was slowly 
put together. It is a very common occurrence at 
the present time to find these old "chimney corners" 
where houses have been modernized, and in "Ye Old 
Forge House/ 5 not only is the original chimney 
still in use, but on the removal of the modern stove 
and brickwork, the two old seats appeared, one on 
either side. 

Naturally curved oak beams were generally 
used to carry the brickwork over the fire-places, and 
being fixed at about five feet above the floor, the 
large flues formed excellent ventilators to carry foul 
air away when the logs burned cheerfully on the 
iron dogs, and the same flue brought a supply of 
fresh air into the chamber when no fire burned on 
the hearth. In many cases a double action went on, 
for smoke ascended in one corner, while a draught 
descended in the opposite corner of the same flue (80). 

It would be difficult to say how many of the 
Canterbury incorrigible boys were frightened by a 
promise to apprentice them to the chimney-sweeper. 
One thing is certain, that boys under ten years of 
age needed the protection of the law as late as 1834. 
So cruel was the treatment of the young sweepers, 
that the Earl of Shaftsbury in 1864, carried a bill 
through parliament for still further protecting 
children while in the employment of chimney 
sweepers. Under this Act a sweeper was liable to 
six months' imprisonment for allowing any person 
to ascend a flue under the age of twenty-one. It 
seems strange that this Act should have been so 
evaded, that in 1875 by the efforts of the same noble 
earl, another was passed with most stringent pre- 
cautions in the interests of the young. 

To the present generation the sweep's bamboo 
machine is no novelty ; it is the outcome of several 



68 OLD CANTERBURY. 

offers of considerable premiums "for the best method 
of cleansing chimneys by mechanical means, so as to 
supersede the necessity of climbing boys." The in- 
vention of Mr. G. Smart was the most successful, 
and does duty to-day. 

A bundle of canes and a brush ; free light and 
air; building bye-laws prohibiting the erection of 
rooms of less height than eight feet ; the Sanitary 
Inspector ; and a thousand other improvements, not 
forgetting the root crop — ninety per cent, of which 
is water, (the small remainder starch and sugar), and 
the times indeed have changed, practically making 
a recurrence of the dreaded plague a moral impossi- 
bility. 



CHAPTER VI. 

CHANGES IN A LIFE-TIME. 

"1VT0T only has it been observed that the seasons 
-^ are not to-day what they were a generation 
back, but the people and the customs seem to 
change as well. The orthodox Winter used to 
begin in November or earlier, and lasted till Feb- 
ruary and later. 

Much employment was found for men with 
large wooden shovels, in clearing roofs from the 
heavy falls of snow ; carmen and horses cleared 
the roads for traffic with the great triangular 
wooden snow ploughs ; everybody who could skate, 
and got no invitations for a spin on sheets of ice in 
private grounds, nocked off to the larger ponds, 
and cut their candles and their figure eights with 
more or less refinement, ease, and grace, until the 
great red sun went down, and many not content at 
that continued skating by the pale moonlight, and 
went home warm and tired. 

Skates, however, in those days were not for 
all ; the large majority indulged in sliding and in 
snow-balling, in building snow huts and men, and 
right royal times they had in the good old English 
winters (81). 

Roller skates in skating rinks may be all very 
well, and serve their turn, but there are those who 
say that ice is better. Young people tell us now 
that it is no use to buy skates, for although it may 
freeze for two days, or three, just as the ice begins 
to bear, a thaw sets in, and all their hopes are over. 



70 OLD CANTERBURY. 

The summers are not so hot, nor so fine ; late 
frosts spoil the fruit prospects, and although we 
get two or three hot days in December and in 
March, and some very cold ones in July and 
September, the seasons still come in their turn, 
and after all our grumbling crops are harvested 
and man is fed. A failure in one country means a 
heavy crop in another; too much wet, or too much 
dry, means more grass or roots, and less corn, or 
the reverse, as the case may be. The shortage in 
one quarter is made good by the super-abundance 
in another ; ships and men are wanted for its 
transfer ; and simply by the vagaries of this 
English climate (which fits the Englishman for 
residence in any latitude) thousands of colonials 
and foreigners have reason to be thankful that, 
unlike them, we never know in England what sort 
of weather we may obtain a day or two in advance. 

In dress, too, "the order changeth"; who does 
not remember the gaberdene, quaint uniform of the 
farmer's waggoner, and of the milkman too (82). 
The bright pails suspended from the yoke have 
given place to the milk chariot and the churn. 
The gaberdene, too, was associated with a class 
of music now but seldom heard. Probably there is 
only one farm homestead within a radius of five 
miles of this ancient city where the teams of horses 
are seen marching in their glistening harness to 
the sound of their own bells. 'Tis but a few years 
since it was the exception to find a team of such 
farm horses without their music clanging above 
the withers. 

Our juveniles, no doubt, would have been 
amused if they had lived in the days of tall silk 
chimney-pot hats for the policemen, no doubt such 
headgear would help to strike terror in the hearts 
of would-be evildoers, for it added considerably to 



CHANGES IN A LIFE-TIME. 7 1 

the height of men already tall (83). In many prints 
and engravings may be seen the same tall hat on 
the county cricket ground, and not only was it the 
correct thing to watch the good old game from 
beneath the wide brim of this hat, but the players 
themselves could neither wield the willow nor do 
their fielding unless they wore such headgear (84). 

It might be well to draw attention here to the 
monument erected some years ago to the late Fuller 
Pilch, one of Canterbury's celebrated cricketers. 
It stands near the gate of St. Gregory's church- 
yard, and in bold carved relief on one side is 
depicted this scorer of centuries standing bat in 
hand before the wickets, the middle stump falling/ 
while he, pathetically looking, stands " bowled 
out" (85). 

The "John Bull" style of farmer, too, has 
nearly disappeared. Occasionally in the market 
may be seen one or two examples of the low square 
hat, the gaiters and the coat, and although the 
younger generation cannot understand why the 
cartoonist represents England as he does, with the 
golden seal hanging over rotundity below the 
waistcoat, it yet is one of the most faithful repre- 
sentations of what the well-to-do English farmer 
used to be (86). 

Education to-day is vastly different from what 
our grandfathers found it ; and the private school 
for "Young Gentlemen" as well as the "Seminary 
for Young Ladies " is almost a thing of the past. 
In every city street, those advanced in life still 
point to some house in which they " went to 
school," and learned by persuasion what the sages 
of the day had to impart. Many a bright intelli- 
gent lad has been sent home at twelve and thirteen 
years of age because the master felt and confessed 
that the boy knew all that he could teach him. 



72 OLD CANTERBURY. 

The dormitories and out-buildings of one such 
famous school known as the " Dane John Academy" 
were pulled down about 1876; the house proper 
yet remains ; four houses and an important horse 
repository now stand upon the spacious playground 
where the merry voices of the boys were heard 
before and after school. 

It is needless to add, that in place of these 
small private schools, we now enjoy greater educa- 
tional advantages than ever before. In addition to 
the many elementary schools, secondary and higher 
education are well represented in the Langton 
Schools for boys, girls, and infants, which since 
1880 have been enlarged again and again; Kent 
College for boys, near the St. Edmund's School on 
St. Thomas' Hill ; the King's School for boys, in 
the Cathedral Precincts, an ancient institution 
where many of our statesmen, physicians, explorers, 
Church dignitaries and other eminent men have 
learned to lead, or live for, others. A flourishing 
School of Art, where competent masters teach 
drawing, modelling, carving, painting in oils and 
water, preparing students for responsible positions 
as teachers, and enabling many to hold their own 
against all comers and win South Kensington 
prizes year after year, is also a great acquisition to 
the city, and these advantages, together with 
exceptional opportunities for becoming efficient 
members of orchestral and philharmonic societies, 
largely account for Canterbury being chosen as a 
place of desirable residence. Mention might be 
made of the Cookery School, also of the Natural 
History and Scientific Society, and Photographic 
Society, all of which materially assist the modern 
idea of education. " Better for man, were he and 
nature more familiar friends." 

Man alone, among the created animals, assumes 
the erect position and in all the ages has tried to 



CHANGES IN A LIFE -TIME. 73 

command a still greater range of vision by either 
mounting a vehicle or an animal. His natural speed 
compares very favourably with other mammals, yet 
there has always been a desire on his part to go 
faster than his legs would carry him, and many 
have been the devices to this end. 

Not far from the old police station in St. Dun- 
stan's, and perhaps barely five and thirty years ago 
might have been seen exposed for hire, a consider- 
able number of machines known as " velocipedes," 
the old four wheelers of that time and the successors 
to a somewhat similar machine that had no cranks, 
and no treadles, but simply a seat between the four 
wooden wheels of equal diameter upon which sat 
the passenger, who, " sitting down to walk" struck 
the ground with his toes and thus sped through 
space, to the wonderment of all and sundry (87). 
Some people, however, found these machines some- 
what heavy in the working on a muddy road, and 
one bold spirit not only suggested, but actually 
made a machine with one wheel less, and for many 
years, tricycles were the order of the day. Bicycles 
soon followed, with solid wooden wheels and iron 
tyres, and from the comfort one derived from such 
luxurious carriers, they soon got to be known as 
"bone shakers" (88). The high wheel bicycle (89) 
with solid rubber tyre was a decided improvement, 
but in the course of evolution the "safety" appeared, 
the cushion tyre improved it, but the acme of per- 
fection was not arrived at till the puncture-proof 
pneumatic tyres were put upon the light yet strong 
machines of to-day, with perfect brakes, free-wheels, 
and gears to suit the rider. 

Motor cars are by no means a new invention, 
and although perhaps few originals have survived, 
many pictures of them exist, showing the kind of 
machine that was made for the roads when steam 



74 OLD CANTERBURY. 

became a known power, but which were prohibited 
by law as dangerous to life and health. 

Many will remember the usual "baby carriage" 
of forty years ago! It was known as the "hand 
chaise," or "go cart. 55 A kind of wooden cage, 
open at the top, round at each end, a solid wooden 
bottom, mounted on four wheels of wood and iron, 
and pulled along by the willing nurse, by means of 
a long wooden handle, with a "T 55 shaped end. 
The old fashioned "perambulator 55 followed, and 
the present light and elegant baby carriages are a 
decided improvement on all that has gone before. 

It may be interesting to some of our boys to 
inform them that the long projection on the back of 
the old fashioned cab, (some of which are still 
running) are " sword cases, 55 very useful for the 
gentleman who had to take long journeys fully 
armed in the good old days when highway robbery 
was a fine art (go). 

On the Deal Road, and not far from the Sana- 
torium is a fine old piece of brickwork forming the 
entrance to meadow land and what is known as 
"Lord's Wall 55 extends for over a mile along the road 
side. Children are generally told a legend to the 
effect that a certain noble lived in a fine old mansion 
within that gateway, and after entertaining his 
friends and wishing them good-night, would dis- 
guise himself and his servants, and attack and rob 
his own friends on some lonely part of this road. 
In order to add to the mystery of the place, it is 
further reported to the juveniles that when the great 
stone balls (or plum puddings) hear the cathedral 
clock strike twelve at midnight, they exchange 
places. 

A railway station in North Lane is perhaps a 
new idea to some, but there are those living who 
remember Canterbury's only railway station in that 



CHANGES IN A LIFE-TIME. 75 

position. One of the very earliest lines laid down 
in the kingdom, was the six mile length from the 
Port of Whitstable to North Lane, and this was in 
use for several years before the locomotive became 
an established fact. 

Steam was then a power, and the horizontal 
and beam engine could do prodigious deeds. The 
line was constructed more or less on the principle 
of a switch back and some very steep gradients 
occur along this track. 

At two or more points on the apex of the rise, 
an engine house was built, and by means of a large 
winding drum, the train was drawn by ropes up the 
inclines, and allowed to run down the other side of 
the switch back by its own impetus. At least one 
of these old brick and tile buildings remains to-day, 
and may be seen at the south end of the tunnel. 

The practical joker lived then, and enjoyed 
himself at the expense of others as ever, and it is 
told how on more than one occasion, the hook 
which attached the rope to the train to be " paid 
out" from the unwinding drum, as the train ran 
down the slope into North Lane had been secretly 
removed, so that on arrival at the station, there was 
nothing by which the train could be pulled up the 
slope to the tunnel on the outward journey, till men 
had walked to the engine house and conveyed the 
rope end down to North Lane. But time was no- 
thing in those days, and such trivialities helped to 
make up " Merrie England." 

Of the tunnel itself it might be well to point 
out at least three peculiarities ; it has no ventilating 
shafts up to the air above, and possibly in view of 
electric traction, they will never be put in, although 
it would be a very easy piece of work, and far more 
likely than to open the tunnel upwards ; the engines 
now running on this branch of single line are con- 



76 OLD CANTERBURY. 

structed with specially low funnels, in order to pass 
through what is probably the lowest and altogether 
smallest tunnel in the kingdom, but by no means 
the shortest ; the other point of interest is to note 
that at the south end of the tunnel may yet be seen 
the iron hooks set in blocks of stone, built into the 
brickwork, reminding us of the days when a pair of 
gates swung across the tunnel mouth. Evidences 
of excavations are plentiful near this spot, and it is 
surmised that the bricks used in the tunnel arch 
were made and burned on the adjoining land. 

With what joy, comfort, and luxury our fathers 
travelled on this line when opened for traffic in 
1824 may best be judged by looking at a represen- 
tation of the arrival of the first train drawn by a 
steam "Puffing Billy" at the tunnel mouth, where 
the passengers, officials and elite of the city passed 
through admiring and wondering crowds. It would 
be interesting to know if the coal trucks of the 
present time are the same rootless first-class 
carriages of a by-gone age (91). 

In 1844, the main South Eastern line was 
opened, the new track runs over the old single 
branch, the North Lane Station was more required 
for coals than passengers, how straight the line once 
ran right through the tunnel from that point may 
yet be seen. 

We are very prone to lose sight of the fact that 
Canterbury people were in constant touch with 
London and the coast before the days of railways, 
and although stage coaches were on the road, the 
favourite route to London was via Whitstable, from 
which port the " Hoy " regularly plied to the 
metropolis. 

During the Franco-German war, our postage 
stamp was red^ the penny "black" had run its 
course. The first post office still stands next to the 
entrance to the White Friars in St. George's Street 



CHANGES IN A LIFE-TIME. 77 

and many of the older inhabitants tell how in their 
day if one required a stamp, they only had to tap 
at the window of this house, one small square of 
which was made to open as a door, and while wait- 
ing on the side walk, in sunshine or rain, our first 
postmaster would weigh the letter and provide the 
stamp. The second post office was further west 
in St. George's Street, the third was in the High 
Street, and customers were actually allowed inside. 
In course of time a cast iron pillar box was erected 
at St. George's, but removed to make room for 
Alderman Hart's generous gift of a fountain, and a 
branch post office established close by. At this 
time there were three postmen and two deliveries, 
but the city's correspondence grew apace, the large 
private house at King's Bridge became the postal 
centre, branch offices and many hands became 
necessary, until at the present time the extensive 
premises utilised as soap works for many years by 
Mr. Neame, have become government property, and 
are now being built over to meet the requirements 
of the postal and telegraphic department, at the 
rear of the existing premises, which are shortly to 
be rebuilt, giving up a strip of frontage about a 
yard in width, to the advantage of the narrow 
approach to King's Bridge. 

Every town and city contains eccentric people. 
It is said that we are all eccentric, and that we are 
only known by our eccentricities, there are however 
degrees, and since the days of John Pennington, 
Nell Cook and Betty Bolaine, we have not been 
without our noted characters. The latter lady was 
to all accounts a mean and stingy citizen, but 
unfortunately she was admired and copied by some 
who came after. A certain Mrs. Smith, whose 
husband had hard but regular work and money in 
one of the city workshops, was afflicted with more 
than a usual share of anxiety to save. 



78 OLD CANTERBURY. 

After years of hard work and extremely frugal 
living, she became the owner of several freeholds ; 
herself working as a charwoman, and living in her 
own cottage, it is thought she put by all her rents 
and the whole of her husband's wages ; ever ready 
with a tale of woe, Mrs. Smith was the constant 
recipient of scraps of food, tea leaves and other 
oddments. Many a time, it is said, the only dinner 
her poor husband had, was a pipe of " baccy." 
Although with rents coming in, they sat without 
fires in the coldest weather, and retired to rest with 
the sun, to avoid the cost of candles. 

Their dress denoted extreme poverty, and they 
excited the pity of all beholders, excepting those 
who knew them. Such savings were bound to 
accumulate ; another block of freeholds was selected, 
a close bargain struck ; over a thousand pounds in 
gold were drawn from her hoard, and taken to the 
house of the vendor by herself, no light weight for 
a thin frail woman. The gold was counted and re- 
counted, the sum agreed upon was on the table all 
but one piece ; the owner said he could not sell unless 
the whole oi the money was paid, protestations were 
of no avail, and there was nothing left, but for Mrs. 
Smith to take a special journey home and fetch that 
missing sovereign, may be learning on the way, and 
ever after, that there is no real joy in avarice. 

Every now and again in course of alterations 
to old property, a discovery is made by opening or 
unroofing the bread oven. No one knew it was there, 
and many have been surprised to learn that it was 
the custom of our grandmothers to make the weekly 
batch of bread, and every cottage had its oven. 
Home-made bread now seems to be a thing of the 
past ; ovens are not built to-day, only pulled down 
to make more room — the baker has found employ- 
ment and created a new and important industry; 



CHANGES IN A LIFE -TIME. 79 

who now could do without him r We are speaking 
of Canterbury, but there are yet portions of this 
island northward, where the household oven yet 
does its work, and the baker is practically unknown. 

Our grandparents now and again remind us of 
the time when the city watchmen in their quaint 
garb used to parade the streets at night, and during 
the darkness would break the silence not only by 
their heavy footfall but by their weird uncanny cry. 
At certain hours it was the custom to announce the 
time and the state of the weather for the benefit of 
all who could not sleep, " Half-past twelve o'clock, 
fine starlight night." Sir Robert Peel's "Peelers" 
have taken the place of the old watchmen, and the 
whistle has superseded the noisy wooden rattle (92). 

Many buildings in the city are used to-day for 
a very different purpose from that for which they 
were erected. A grocery store in Orange Street 
was built for theatrical purposes ; an old wooden 
structure in Sweeps' Lane, or to give its modern 
name, High Street, St. Gregory, was known for 
many years as the " Ragged School," and many a 
public " examination " under the direction of its 
master, the late Mr. Epps, was given in the Music 
Hall. The schoolroom, still standing, was origin- 
ally erected for cheap theatrical plays. In one 
instance, a hospital for the widows of clergymen 
has been devoted to trade purposes, and some 
pretty little villas erected on the London Road 
instead. This is a change to which no one can 
object, and it is better for all concerned. 

There is a spot in the centre of the city still 
called the " Butter Market," but not a trace remains 
of the old oval, slated roof supported on its wooden 
columns, under the shelter of which for several 
generations the country folk stood to sell their 
produce from the farms (93). The timbers rotted, 



80 OLD CANTERBURY. 

the ceiling gave way, Saturday marketing lost 
ground ; instead of re-building, the site was cleared 
and the Marlowe Memorial marks the centre of 
the old market. 

The Fish Market in St. Margaret's Street stood 
empty and forsaken for years, the harvest of the 
sea no longer appeared for sale upon the sloping 
stone benches. Without practically any structural 
alteration, the market was fitted with a plate glass 
front by private enterprise, and the rents of two 
shops, collected by the city council, are better than 
the empty toll book. 

A lady departed this life in 1905 whose father 
kept the Star Hotel at No. 1 St. George's Place. 
The Star Tavern yet remains to remind us. Several 
private houses and some shops can be pointed out 
as previous licensed premises, also many hotels 
and public houses now existing were originally 
built as private residences. 

Perhaps there is no building in the city that 
has seen so many changes as that in Stour Street 
originally erected as a Hospital for Poor Priests, 
and had it not have been substantially built of flint 
and stone facings, with brick walls and massive 
oak timbers, it is hardly likely that much of it 
would be with us to-day. In our own time it has 
been put to many purposes, such as police station 
and gaol, day school for Roman Catholic children, 
poor relief offices, builder's yard and workshops, 
furniture stores, private dwellings, etc., not forget- 
ting the old Blue Coat School Foundation from 
which many boys have been apprenticed to the 
tradesmen of the city. The available funds from 
this charity have been largely diverted from their 
original purpose so far as apprenticeships are 
concerned, and now help to provide the scholar- 
ships in the Simon Langton School, which are so 



CHANGES IN A LIFE-TIME. 8 1 

keenly competed for in the elementary schools of 
the city. 

The small house bell of usual shape has of late 
years been replaced by the electric ; wires and 
cranks, long pulls and levers are almost things of 
the past, but it is interesting to note how at least 
in some cases the bell metal has deteriorated. A 
sweet -toned bell was recently found in an old house 
in St. Paul's (94), it looks and sounds as though 
silver had a place in its amalgam, the shape is 
almost like a flat inverted tea cup, and the old steel 
spring is not the familiar shape. 

A working man recently reported to his em- 
ployer that he had moved, and on being asked 
where he might now be found said they called it 
" Cold-bath Cottage," just off St. Radigund's 
Street ! Having heard of St. Radigund's baths, 
the employer asked if he had a cellar, the man said 
" Yes, but it's rather a funny cellar, you have to go 
outside to get into it, no steps indoors." Later in 
the same day, the cottage was found and the cellar 
explored, and there is very little reason to doubt 
that it is at least a portion of the old Roman bath. 
Its position would account for the story that some- 
one was allowed to make a breach in the city wall 
in order to get more easily to the baths. It is 
located just a few yards on the north side of the 
•city wall, that used to stand between Bastion Cot- 
tage and the Northgate. The cellar is lined with 
stone, and is half out of ground, so that several 
steps must be climbed to reach the front doors of 
the two cottages that have been erected over the 
old masonry. Excavations might increase our 
knowledge of these remains ! At Bath may be 
seen how the water was heated, and how the baths 
were divided, and may be Canterbury was not 
behind the times in its bathing arrangements. 



$2 OLD CANTERBURY. 

Under the heading of this chapter it would 
not be out of place to mention the city's water 
supply. Its first inhabitants, doubtless, resided not 
far from the river's banks, the water was clear and 
excellent, but, as numbers increased, organic 
matter would contaminate the water, and purer 
would be found in wells. This in turn, for want of 
sanitation, was in a city always liable to danger 
from percolation of surface water, often charged 
heavily with nameless organic impurities, and many 
a life has been lost through drinking tainted water. 

We cannot say how long ago it was that a 
bright clear spring of water was found among the 
sand at what is known as Scotland Hills far away 
from the impurities of the city dwellings, but we 
know that some good angel prompted some good 
mortal to lay a conduit from this limpid spring, 
some parts of curiously contrived wooden pipes, 
and other parts in heavy lead, some of each kind 
yet remain to be exhumed. 

Many of us well remember the iron water 
pillars, from which the citizens drew the daily 
supply, but one after another have they disappeared, 
and the old lead pipes have been eagerly sought 
after and bought up by the merchants, who know 
how to extract more silver from the lead than was 
known when these old pipes were made. 

These water pillars were nearly all of different 
design, but generally speaking they were about four 
feet in height by eight to ten inches thick and stood 
at the Cattle Market, (near the present granite cattle 
trough) Parade, High Street, Westgate Without, all 
on the east side of the road, others stood in the Butter 
Market, and at Northgate. The round pattern 
post with an iron knob on the top and peculiar 
push-in tap, yet standing at St. Paul's end of 
Longport, was the gift of Sir John Hales. A 



CHANGES IN A LIFE-TIME. 8$ 

bronze tablet on the old house adjoining, gives 
particulars. 

Many wood cuts of the " Conduit " as they 
called the water house that used to stand in the 
centre of the road on the parade, may yet be seen, 
and we are told that when St. George's Gate was 
barbarously destroyed a hundred years ago or more, 
two huge tanks were in the towers to store the 
water in case of fire or drought. Provision was 
then made by making water tight the old tower on 
the wall in Burgate Lane, and for many years a 
public pump outside provided water from this city 
reservoir. When, however, a small company was 
formed for the purpose of pumping the purified 
river water into the old Norman Keep of our Castle 
in 1825, the water tank in Burgate Lane became 
"Zoar Chapel, 5 ' and is still used by the Strict 
Baptists every Sunday. 

In 1867 the present Water Company laid down 
their net work of cast iron main pipes, (coated with 
a patent preparation invented by Dr. Angus Smith 
to preserve the metal) excavated a hugh reservoir 
on the summit of St. Thomas' Hill, and by the aid 
of powerful steam engines pumped their water from 
the wells in Wincheap, through the city to the top 
of the hill. The pressure on the pipes and fittings 
is simply enormous, and may be tested any time by 
trying to hold a very slow drip from a tap by means 
of thumb or finger. 

Fire pumping engines in the city are not 
required as the water will rise through the hose and 
jet so high that a man standing in the road can 
send a stream right over Westgate Towers and half 
way up the flag pole. 

The wells are sunk deep into the chalk, and 
then are bored for several hundred feet deeper still, 
so that the water rises up the iron tubes and is 



84 OLD CANTERBURY. 

raised by means of powerful pumps into a series of 
large tanks, where it is deprived of its natural 
hardness, and becomes so soft that rain water is at 
a discount in the city. 

The stroke of the main pumping engine at 
Thanington is a struggle so severe, that each throb 
can be distinctly felt a mile away, as it forces the 
" best water in England " to its high elevation. 
These water works have for many years been under 
the supervision of an exceptionally clever and care- 
ful engineer, and the result of much thought and 
ingenuity is evident throughout the works. In the 
engine house is a telescope fixed in the wall, by 
means of which the signal over the reservoir can 
be observed. The upper half of the disc is fixed, 
the lower half being attached to a float on the surface 
of the water below the dome, and pumping ceases, 
when the lower half rises high enough to complete 
the circle. 

Through the continual pumping at Win cheap, 
nearly all the wells within a radius of a mile have 
either had to be deepened or abandoned. In one 
case a never failing supply at a venerable well some 
seventy- five feet deep in the chalk gave out, and the 
formation of extensive adits failed to provide a 
sufficient quantity. 

With the exception of a few surface springs, 
all the strong springs within a mile of the river are 
reached at about the river level. Wells in the Old 
Dover Road chalk having to be dug from seventy 
to ninety feet deep, those at Oaten Hill from thirty- 
five to forty feet, at Dover Street the force pump 
can just be avoided by placing what is known as a 
"long barrel pump" over the well, which points to 
a depth of from twenty-nine to something over 
thirty feet. Nearer the river any ordinary "Jack " 
pump will bring the water from wells varying from 



CHANGES IN A LIFE-TIME. 85 

eight and twenty feet to six or seven feet. Along 
the Sturry Road may be seen wells so shallow that 
those who use them require nothing but a pail, and 
dip it out at arm's length. 

Many persons fifty years of age and under, 
have been puzzled to give either name or use for the 
peculiar fashioned pieces of steel by means of which, 
in connection with the tinder box, our forefathers 
struck the flint to get a spark. Grandmama has to 
come to the rescue and tells with a twinkle in her 
eye, how she, when a girl, had to get tinder ready 
and put it carefully away where no damp could 
reach it. In these days of gas taps, electric-light 
switches, and safety matches at twopence halfpenny 
the dozen boxes, we wonder how our fathers exer- 
cised so much patience, and sympathise but little 
with them, when they tell how often times ten minutes 
would elapse before the spark became a name (95). 

In the spring of 1906 Mr. Burton gave orders 
for the demolition of the old house in Upper Bridge 
Street to make room for the present new erection. 
All who remember the very low entrance to the 
stable yard may perhaps wonder how many coach- 
men have cause to rejoice in that they will no longer 
endanger their heads and their hats as they drive 
through to the mews at the rear. 

Owing partly to badly carried out alterations, 
and partly to the fact that very little care was taken 
to build on a solid foundation, the house was sadly 
out of shape, and the floors and ceilings were more 
or less "like the waves of the sea." 

Erected probably in the 14th century, this 
house was not so old as the adjoining structure, 
and in course of the removal of the roof, it was 
found that it had been built between two existing 
tenements. Next the main gable, was another 
gable, about fourteen feet in width, plastered and 




OAK ROOF IN MR. BURTON'S HOUSE, RE-ERECTED IN STATION ROAD, W. 



CHANGES IN A LIFE-TIME. 87 

weather hung, some few of the ancient tiles remain- 
ing nailed upon the outer face. 

Originally this house was built in the form of 
a square, about twenty-two feet each way. One 
large room on the ground level, with earthen floor, 
in height rather over seven feet up to the old oak 
beams that carried the sleeping compartment. The 
upper floor was entirely open to the roof. 

As there was a coating of soot upon all the 
timbers in the roof, it is evident that there was no 
chimney when the house was erected, and the fire 
would probably burn on the hearth in the centre of 
the lower hall, the smoke finding its way out 
between the interstices of the tiles. 

A further proof that no chimney was provided 
for in the construction, was shown by the fact that 
the roof plate was not only continuous, but was 
mortised for the upright timbers that were removed 
when the chimney was introduced. Brick chimneys 
were by no means common in this country till the 
15th century, then commenced the custom of build- 
ing the enormous chimney corners, with the flue 
large enough for a man to climb to the top, the 
arch over the opening always carried by a camber 
shaped oak beam, and generally bevelled off at the 
back to direct the smoke. 

At this house, such a chimney was erected 
against and outside the back wall. That the decay 
of the ecclesiastical buildings had begun is evident 
through finding a chamfered Caen stone jamb on one 
side of the chimney corner, and partly forming the 
foundation of the chimney were some blocks of 
carved and moulded stone that had once done duty 
in a window of a church. The joint between the 
jamb stone and its base was very characteristic of 
the times, in that the usual oyster shell was inserted 
in the soft mortar. The thin flat shells served to 



88 OLD CANTERBURY. 

make the joint more solid, and are practically of the 
same lasting nature as the stone. The chimney was 
built of the well-known thin bricks, bedded, not in 
lime mortar, but in clay, which served its purpose 
very well indeed. Some of the bricks were not 
only particularly well burned, but were practically 
vitrified, a dark glaze showing on the surface, and 
this produced not by coal but by wood fuel (96). 

At a later period the chimney was opened to 
form a fire-place in the room above, and a kind of 
Tudor arch constructed over it. The house was put 
together with a large amount of care and real skill ; 
not only were the oaken beams of the best quality, 
but the workmanship was far superior to what 
might be expected for that age. 

Before the removal of the roof several architects 
were sufficiently interested to pay a visit of inspec- 
tion, and much surprise was expressed to note the 
sound condition and the very fresh appearance of 
the timbers. 

The rafters were 17 ft. long, six by four inches 
in section, halved and pinned together in pairs, 
(without a ridge board) and measured twenty-one 
inches from centre to centre, or fifteen inches clear 
space between, which was the recognised specifica- 
tion of the time. The attraction of the roof, how- 
ever was its octagon post with carved and moulded 
base, the forerunner of the modern " King post." 
This stood in the centre of a naturally cambered oak 
beam, twenty-one feet long, which acted as a tie from 
front to back. 

The post carried a collar beam, which in turn 
supported the collars, each of which was dovetailed 
and pinned to the rafters. Double-tenoned carved 
oak braces fitted corresponding mortises in the post 
on four sides. 

This tie beam was not in the centre of the 
building, but about eight feet from one end. The 



CHANGES IN A LIFE-TIME. 89 

time when it was customary to cover dwellings with 
sods, turf, heath and the like was passing away 
when this roof was put up. Tiles were not made 
here till the middle of the thirteenth century, but 
this roof was made for tiles, and the strong oak 
laths could well carry them (97). Shingles made of 
cleft oak are very ancient, but like tiles, were 
expensive, and for centuries the straw and haum 
has served its purpose as thatch, where tiles and 
shingles could not be procured. 

The upper floor joists were honest oak beams 
with projecting bull-nosed ends showing in the 
street, resting on the lower timber wall and carrying 
the upper front upon their tips. The lower wall set 
back about fifteen inches from the upper, and the 
square front door frame appeared to support the 
upper timbers by means of stout oak brackets. The 
principal beam or bressummer reached the whole 
length from front to back and measured nine inches 
deep by ten inches wide ; this in turn supported one 
end of the binder which was eight inches deep by 
nine inches wide. The joists rested by means of flat 
tenons on their under side, entering the centre of the 
binder. The main posts were strongly corbelled and 
beautifully fitted with double tenons and housings. 
On the removal of the modern lath and plaster ceiling 
of the lower hall, it was found that the original 
ceiling was of elm boards, all cut to fifteen inch 
widths and about three quarters of an inch in thick- 
ness. Small oak mouldings covered all the joints, 
and other mouldings being scribed between, the 
whole ceiling showed rectangular panels about 
twenty-one inches long by fourteen inches in width 
(97). Portions of the old oak floor remained, but 
most of it had been replaced with fir. 

The plastering is worthy of note on account not 
only of its thickness, but its composition. Consist- 



90 OLD CANTERBURY. 

ing almost entirely of clay, kneaded and puddled 
by hands and feet, with a plentiful admixture of 
chopped haum and grasses (98), and put into its 
place probably by hands alone, it has stood the test 
of centuries. It is always thicker than modern 
work and in some cases can be shown at least three 
inches through (99). The strong split oak laths are 
about one and a quarter inches wide by three eighths 
of an inch in thickness. To suit the coarse semi- 
plastic material the laths had to be as much as an 
inch and a half apart ; the " Key " was both ample 
and perfect (100). A fine coat of white plastering 
was found upon the older under coating, and as it 
readily peeled off, was probably of much later date. 
This clay and straw puddle plastering hung on the 
oak laths, is generally described as "wattle and 
daub." 

For the foundations of the new house, excava- 
tions were made in a black mud deposit to a depth 
at the frontage line of eight feet, and then the solid 
clay was found. At the back of the house, this 
maiden earth is seen within two feet of the surface. 
It would appear that the moat was dug out of the 
clay and extended from the city wall not only across 
the Cattle Market, but took the present road and 
twenty feet behind the house fronts. Since actually 
proving the width of the moat at this point, it is 
most gratifying to read in " Gostling's Walk," that 
the moat from Northgate to Ridingate was one 
hundred and fifty feet wide. This coincides with 
what was found in digging the new foundations. 
When safety was possible outside the city walls, 
the moat became of little use, and would be grad- 
ually filled up, and as time went on, houses would 
spring up along its outer banks. 

The raised footpath in Broad Street, with its 
houses standing on a still higher bank, shows pretty 



CHANGES IN A LIFE-TIME. 9 1 

well where the slope began. How much it has 
been filled up is matter for speculation, but as it was 
kept supplied with water by the river, it looks as 
though there is a large accumulation below even 
the deepest present hollow. 

No doubt the moat would prove a happy hunt- 
ing ground for the archaeological or antiquarian 
explorer, and it stands to reason that those who 
delve in its black mud, will find at least some 
memento of the long past. 

In this case the usual bones of man and beast 
were not wanting, horns of cows and teeth of horses, 
all go to show where the rubbish of the city was 
allowed to decay outside the walls. A cinerary urn 
with a black ash deposit came to lig'ht in one of the 
trenches (101); but nearly all such treasures get 
broken by the pick axe that finds them. Fragments 
of copper armour, Delft ware printed blue, pieces 
of Roman pottery and tiles, including at least one 
specimen of the beautiful Samian ware, of perfect 
curve and usual glaze and colour (102) one old 
sword of ancient pattern (103), and in the lowest 
part two paleolithic flint spear heads came to light 
(104) in this most likely place to find them. 

In order that this relic should not be lost to the 
city, a site has been secured near the Westgate, at 
the corner of Station Road, and the house has there 
been re-erected and utilised as a small museum, 
illustrative of most of the objects of interest men- 
tioned in this publication, and of others that are 
closely connected with " Old Canterbury." 



CHAPTER VII. 

ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 
THE BIRD'S-EYE VIEW. 

A valuable plan of the city, presented by the 
J --* L - late J. Fraser, Esq., of Castle House, gives an 
exceedingly good bird's-eye view of the streets and 
buildings as they probably were in the thirteenth 
century (105). No exact date can be given, but the 
Black Friars gateway in St. Peter's Street is shown 
at the point where the present Friars joins St. 
Peter's Street ; this fine flint gateway was built in 
122 1, and demolished in 1788. Another gateway, 
stood at the junction of Best Lane and King Street, 
which was near their church, these are also shown. 

Opposite the entrance in St. Peter's Street 
stood the gateway leading to the Grey Friars : the 
narrow passage still remaining as part of Mead 
Lane marks the spot where this gate stood in 1234. 
The church of the Grey Friars is also plainly shown 
in the form of a cross and with a square tower and 
spire standing at the eastern end. A wall entirely 
surrounds this church and encloses a piece of ground 
in the shape of an oval. 

As the plan shows St. Edmund's church standing 
on the Dane John, which was pulled down in 1349, 
and does not show the buildings of the White 
Friars, which might have been erected after the 
latter date, although they arrived in 1325, it is 
almost conclusive that the plan was made between 
122 1 and 1349. 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 93 

The plan bears the Royal Arms, also the arms 
of the Archbishop, the Cathedral of Christ Church, 
and of the City. What little printing there is upon 
it is a mixture of Latin and old English. 

The walls are perfect, and show twenty-seven 
watch towers, alternately square and round, in 
addition to the six gates and two posterns. The 
moat is shown in connection with the river, and 
water occupies the site of the present Cattle Market 
from Riding Gate to Newingate. 

A quarter of the circle occupied by the city is 
entirely devoted to the Cathedral establishment. 
This is shown by houses forming a continuous line 
from Christ Church gate eastward to Burgate, and 
from Christ Church gate northward to Northgate, 
taking what is now Sun Street, Palace Street, and 
the Borough. There is however a notable exception 
at each end before the boundary reaches the city 
wall. At Burgate the line of houses is continued 
by a wall enclosing a semi- circle, in which, and 
clear of the road, stands St. Michael's church with 
its square tower and spire. No trace of this church 
appears to-day, cottages occupy the site, and the 
only memory remains in the name of a new road 
recently made in the parish of St. Stephen. At 
the Northgate end, the blocked-up archway, still 
visible in the flint wall indicates the entrance to 
the monastic gardens. 

Between the Grange and the Almonry Chapel 
was an open space like a public square, the present 
inner gateway in the King's School yard, forming 
the entrance to the Precincts and Green Court, and 
it is since this plan was made that the open square 
has been included in cathedral property, and the 
present outer gateway erected at the end of Palace 
Street. The position of the inner gateway has 
•often puzzled visitors to the cathedral. The fact 



94 OLD CANTERBURY. 

that an inner line of strong walls and towers was 
thought necessary indicates the condition of the 
country at this period. The space between the city 
wall in Broad Street and the wall enclosing the 
monastic buildings is shown without any erections 
upon it and was used as a garden. The outer strip 
immediately behind the city wall is a lane which 
few people ever see, and is known as Queeningate 
Lane, giving access all the way from North gate to 
Burgate. 

The only postern gate remaining in the wall is 
opposite St. Augustine's Cemetery gateway, and 
can be seen from Broad Street. From this small 
gate a bridge was thrown across the moat, which 
at this point was called the " Church Dyke." 

The large fish-pond for the use of the monks 
was too valuable an asset to be in the outer garden, 
and is shown in oval form within the grounds near the 
present east end of the cathedral. A most amusing 
picture may be seen showing the eager faces of the 
monks as they surround the fish pond, armed with 
rod and line. The title of the picture is simply 
" Thursday Evening," and the anxiety to secure a 
fish dinner for the following fast day is cleverly 
shown. 

The Archbishop's Palace stands near Palace 
Street, and the site occupied by the present building 
is in large part the site of the original. At the 
east end of the cathedral, and quite apart from it, 
stands the massive square tower for the " ring of 
bells," and was known as the " campanile." The 
ruins of this tower may be under the grassy mound 
that now marks the site. 

Of the gates it might be noted that St. Mary's 
church is shown over the Northgate. Worthgate 
at the end of the Dane John appears as a large 
single arch with a room over it. Remains of this 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 95 

gateway may be seen in the end of the terrace wall, 
outside the south entrance to the Dane John. 
Westgate, Newingate or St. George's Gate, Bur- 
gate and the Ridingate appear in their well-known 
positions, and posterns are shown at the north end 
of Pound Lane and near St. Mildred's Church. 

At this period there was no way for vehicular 
traffic through Castle Street to Wincheap, the 
roadway branching off on the south side of the 
churchyard of St. Mary de Castro and following 
Castle Row to Worthgate. 

Although there was_a gate at the east end of 
St. George's Street, traffic for Dover was directed 
southward through Dover Street, hence its name 
(presumed to be an improvement on " Dover Lane" 
as it was called but thirty years ago;. Traffic for 
the Deal road from this gate would turn northward 
and find Longport Street through Church Street, 
St. Paul's. No way existed through Ivy Lane or 
St. George's Place, the latter roadway having been 
cut and laid so lately as 1790, but ten years before 
the fine round towers of St. George's Gate were 
ruthlessly demolished. 

The story goes that in 1800 the custom still 
existed of placing sentries at this gate. Complaints 
were made to the mayor that the soldiers stationed 
there were not always quite so polite to the ladies 
who passed that way as they might have been : in 
fact, it is said that they sometimes indulged in 
rude remarks ! As a military guard was at this 
time quite useless, and merely an ancient custom 
that lingered on, the mayor requested the 
commandant to discontinue the practice. The 
commandant, however, declined to listen to the 
city's chief magistrate, telling him his orders were 
to guard that gate. " Very well," retorted the 
mayor, " either you remove your soldiers, or I 



90 OLD CANTERBURY. 

remove the gate." Illustrations of this gate show 
it to be very similar to the Westgate, with two 
round towers. It is said that it cost the city £4000 
to destroy, and Westgate would have shared a 
similar fate but for the casting vote of the mayor. 
Portions of the massive foundations of St. George's 
Gate may yet be seen in adjacent basements and 
some masonry is left below the street. 

In this present year Archbishop Sudbury's fine 
old Westgate has undergone slight repairs to the 
exterior face, parapets, and pointing, and it is very 
gratifying to know that its six rooms in the towers 
and the fine chamber over the vaulted entrance have 
been fitted up with pikes and halberts, claymores 
and armour that did yeoman service in dangerous 
and troublesome times and are on view for the 
benefit not only of the citizens but for all who take 
interest in such things. 

The course of the river has not altered much 
in the last five hundred years, the island of Binne- 
wyth was formed probably thousands of years 
before Canterbury began to be, 900 B.C. At least 
five bridges have entirely disappeared, one where 
the wall crossed the eastern arm of the river as it 
entered the city on the south, another where it left 
the city on the north. One old bridge of three 
arches carried the road near Smeaton's Great Mill, 
another has been replaced in Black Friars, and the 
plan shows one leading from Stour Street giving 
access to the Grey Friars' estate. An arm of the 
river or perhaps an artificial wharf appears to 
extend across Stour Street eastward to the vicinity 
of St. Margaret's Street. A similar branch of the 
river is shown extending from the Black Friars 
northward towards Orange Street. 

It is thought by some that the old Roman 
Watling Street continued down Beer Cart Lane 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 97 

and straight across the river by a ford. The house 
which faces Beer Cart Lane has probably been 
erected on a part of this ancient way, which no 
doubt was as wide as the lane to allow for a double 
stream of traffic. 

The ancient ford at Eastbridge no longer 
existed when this plan was made. The name 
" East-bridge " denotes that it spans the eastern 
arm of the stream. It is interesting to note how 
the old buildings at this spot remind us of the time 
when there was no bridge ; they are approached 
from the street by going doivn steps, but when the 
ford was the road, and a ricketty wooden plank 
with handrail was the footpath, these same houses 
were approached by going tip steps. 

Several water mills are shown upon the plan, 
and traces yet remain in the stone walls along the 
river banks w tx ere the great wheels once revolved. 

Very little building had been done outside the 
protecting walls of the city. London Road shows 
progress, also North Lane and Cock Lane. A few 
houses appear beyond Northgate, but do not extend 
past the Broad Street corner. On the east stands 
the monastery of St. Augustine, enclosed entirely 
by its protective walls. Bridge Street and Dover 
Street are the only other thoroughfares showing 
dwellings, all the rest is blank save the Jewish 
Synagogue with its round tower and dome standing 
where the Canterbury West Station now is, and 
Barnacle Cross, at which point the wine was sold, 
opposite the Presbyterian Church. "Wincheap" 
simply means wine market. 

The strong square Norman keep of the castle 
is shown, but there is no way through the city wall 
at the point where Castle Street now runs ; Win- 
cheap gate once stood here, next the old flint 
erection against the wall, that at one time was the 



98 OLD CANTERBURY. 

Sessions House, but to-day is a private residence, 
and to all appearances with long life before it yet. 

The Dane John Mound is shown as a very 
rough kind of hill just inside the city wall, with 
scrubby looking trees upon it. This artificial mound, 
unique of its kind, has seen many changes since its 
formation from the earth removed when the moat 
was dug. At one time, we are told, it was planted 
with oak trees, again we learn that a windmill 
adorned its crest, it has done service for beacon 
fires, and perhaps more than once it has bristled 
with ordnance. When the Protestants suffered 
martyrdom in the reign of Queen Mary, the mound 
was a vantage ground from which could be seen 
the stake. The granite cross bearing the names of 
those who went home in this chariot of fire can be 
seen from this Dane John Mound, and can be 
reached in a few minutes via Wincheap and Gor- 
don Road. 

One of the most interesting records on this 
plan is the position of the churches that have long 
since disappeared. St. Mary de Castro churchyard 
is patent to all who pass through Castle Street, the 
plan shows the church on the same ground, with 
square tower and spire. Near this spot is St. John's 
Lane to remind us of the church of St. John le 
Poor ; this church is also shown, standing where 
the lane now runs. Nearly in the centre of the 
Dane John is shown the church of St. Edmund, 
previously referred to ; this had a square embattled 
tower surmounted by a huge Latin cross. Each 
church was enclosed by a wall. St. Michael's 
Church in Burgate has already been mentioned, 
this stood next the gate and had a square tower 
and high spire with weathercock. 

Other churches now so well-known, and so 
ably described in the guide books, are all shown on 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 99 

this plan, including St. Mildred, Holy Cross, St. 
Peter, All Saints, St. Mary Bredman (so called 
when the bread market was near, or St. Mary 
Fishman when the market for fish took the place of 
the other), St. Andrew, St. Margaret, St. George, 
St. Mary Bredin, St. Mary Magdalen, and outside 
the city wall, the church of St. Paul. Several 
others in the suburbs were, of course, standing at 
this time, but could not be included in the map of 
the city. St. Dunstan, St. Martin, Hackington, 
Nackington, Thanington, two at Harbledown, also 
those in connection with the monastic buildings, 
both inside and outside the city, were all in use at 
this period, including the church ot St. Sepulchre 
near Oaten Hill, the church of St. Lawrence in the 
Old Dover Road, and St. Mary Queeningate. 

Although, of course, and rightfully, St. Martin 
claims to be the oldest church in the country, 
probably dating back to about 180 A.D., St. Mar- 
garet's church claims to be the premier parish 
church of England. An extract from a letter sent 
to one of the late archbishops reads as follows : 
** The claims of St. Margaret's rest on the following 
grounds. It would seem that the cathedral and its 
precincts belonged in the middle ages to the 
regular clergy, and the privileges of the cathedral 
related to the monastic orders. There was, however, 
during the middle ages a constant jealousy between 
the regular and secular clergy, it was natural and 
appropriate, therefore, that the primates of all 
England in their primatial authority should have 
recognised the rights both of seculars and regulars : 
the rights of the regulars were vindicated by the 
recognition of the cathedral as the seat of the 
primacy, the rights of the seculars by the privileges 
(until recently) granted to St. Margaret's Church, 
Canterbury, situated just outside Mercery Lane 



IOO OLD CANTERBURY. 

and the chief entrance to the Precincts. Gostling 
in 1777 says : ' There is in St. Margaret's an 
ecclesiastical court, the archbishop once in four 
years visits the clergy of the neighbouring part of 
his diocese, two other visitations are annually held 
here by the archdeacon or his official, one for the 
clergy, the other by churchwardens only.' Hasted 
says that this church was given in pure and per- 
petual alms to the Hospital of Poor Priests which 
continued until the 17th year of Elizabeth. This 
may partially account for the traditional privileges 
of St. Margaret's, together with the antiquity of 
its church, as it was probably a place of support 
for the poor secular clergy of the diocese, and 
perhaps of the province of Canterbury." 

Within the walls of St. Augustine's Monastery 
the plan shows the church of St. Pancras. Pan- 
crasius was a noble boy who, when but fourteen 
years old, suffered martyrdom under the Emperor 
Diocletian. It being through seeing the fair-haired 
Saxon boys in the Roman slave market that 
Augustine was sent on his mission to England, it 
followed that the Pagan temple of Ethelbert should 
be re-consecrated to St. Pancras, the patron saint 
of children. In the wall of this ancient church is 
shown a stone with the mark of the devil's talons,, 
which for many ages was believed to be the result 
of his malice in a desperate attempt to overthrow 
the building in his rage and fury when the Christian 
religion took the place of the old pagan rites and 
ceremonies of the heathen temple. The masonry 
of an altar still stands in the south porch where 
Augustine was wont to celebrate, and where for- 
merly had stood the idol of the king. The ruins 
are now uncovered, and an inspection of this relic 
of the past is well worth the small fee taken in aid 
of the exploration fund (105). 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 



MR. G. SMITH S PLAN. 



There is a remarkably good plan of the streets 
of old Canterbury drawn by the late Mr. George 
Smith (106). This piece of work shows not only 
that he was very fond of the antiquities of his 
native city, but that he was possessed of much 
patience and a steady skilful hand for drawing. It 
is said that the only correct plan of the cathedral is 
the one drawn from actual measures taken by the 
same Mr. Smith, and this can be consulted in his 
work on the Chronological History of Canterbury 
Cathedral. 

Among the many interesting details of the 
Street plan may be pointed out the entrance to the 
city at Westgate. There is no road between Holy 
Cross Church and the tower; the only road is 
through the gate and it is drawn the same width as 
the gate . Buildings proj ected on the outer side of the 
gateway on both sides of the road, leaving only the 
width of the drawbridge between them, but beyond 
North Lane, the street appears as wide as it is 
to-day. On the city side of the river a long building 
is shown which actually abuts the South tower, 
fairly conclusive evidence that there was "no 
thoroughfare " round the tower. Not a building is 
shown on the city side of the wall in what is Pound 
Lane, the Police station and all beyond, having 
been filled in during recent years. A gateway is 
apparent between the first and second towers from 
Westgate, leading along the causeway towards 
Abbot's Mill. 

The church of St. Mary is shown in its present 
position, having been removed from over the North 
Gate, but the plan shows a projection on each side 
of the street from which it is possible gates may 
have hung. Burgate is shown, also a block of 



102 OLD CANTERBURY. 

buildings adjoining each tower on the outer side in 
the moat, where now stand the Brewery buildings 
on the one side, and the Saracen's Head on the 
other. 

St. George's or Newingate is shown as two 
round towers and not a building of any shape is 
indicated on the outer adjoining side. 

On the eastern side of Upper and Lower Bridge 
Street, houses are shown extending from Church 
Street, St. Paul's to Dover Street. Ivy Lane had a 
few houses on its northern side, but there is of 
course no way through the buildings to indicate St. 
George's Place, that having been cut through by 
Act of Parliament in 1790, about which time 
probably the two corner houses were erected, one of 
which was the Star Hotel. 

At the Riding Gate, one semicircular tower is 
shown, and adjoining it on the inner side of the wall 
some buildings stood that have long since been 
removed, probably when Alderman Simmons so 
greatly improved the Dane John and its approaches. 
On the southern side of the gateway stood the old 
Duke of York Inn,! until the existing iron bridge 
took the place of the elliptical " Wellcome " arch 
about twenty years ago. A concrete foundation has 
now been placed on the quadrant, and with the 
beautiful foliage of the shrubbery as a background, 
the veteran locomotive steam engine "Invicta," now 
forms an object of interest to passers by. 

Worthgate at the end of the Dane John Terrace 
shows houses adjoining on either side, at least three 
of them probably remain to-day. The Roman arch 
is not indicated on this map, probably because it 
had ceased to be:a gateway and had been bricked up. 

There is no break in the wall between the 
Sessions House and Castle House, where the 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 1 03 

Wincheap Gate was afterwards constructed, but 
the postern is shown near St. Mildred's Church. 

On the northern side of the river, one long and 
three short gaps are shown in the wall, before 
arriving at Westgate, and with these four exceptions, 
the city wall is perfect and intact. The moat, how- 
ever, has ceased to be. From Northgate to Worth- 
gate, along Broad Street and Bridge Street, it is 
very plainly delineated, but planted with trees, and 
in a few instances, buildings are shown erected in it. 

The main street is faithfully drawn in so much 
that five notable obstructions are there shown. The 
turret against St. George's clock tower, through 
which pedestrians had to walk, or get in the road : 
The conduit standing in the middle of the road, a 
waterhouse built of stone, a gift to the city by 
Archbishop Abbot and which was pulled down in 
1754. West of this stood St. Andrew's Church, 
removed it is said, at the instigation of the Earl of 
Chatham in 1763, to facilitate the marching of 
troops through the city, for not only were the 
church and the conduit in the centre of the roadway, 
but shambles, stalls and shops formed a kind of 
" middle row " extending from Butchery Lane to 
Mercery Lane, and must very considerably have 
blocked the roadway. Further westward the tower 
of All Saints' Church stood well in the road, and the 
bridge over the river at this point was but half its 
present width. 

Opposite to St. Andrew's Church on the northern 
side, is shown a small open square, a similar open 
space is shown opposite the conduit at the corner of 
Angel Lane or Butchery Lane. A road or passage 
is indicated from Parade to Burgate where the 
present Corn Market stands, and a smaller open 
square is drawn in St. George's Street, between 
Iron Bar Lane and the Corn Market. 



104 OLD CANTERBURY. 

Several waterlocks and minor streams are 
shown branching from the river, but in many cases 
they have been filled up and lost sight of. An 
island on the Black Friars' estate and another on 
the Grey Friars' estate have ceased to exist, except 
that a culvert may allow the water to pass along 
the old channel. 

A water mill adjoined the King's Bridge and 
the back water passage may yet be seen. 
Although the way is dark and low and dismal, 
the cramped position in a narrow boat does not 
deter the venturesome youth from being able to 
report that he has been through the "Devil's 
Passage." It is said that this mill was the cause of 
continual floods in St. Peter's Street, and if this be 
so, its demolition was indeed a boon to all who had 
to pass that way. 

The church of St. Margaret appears to nearly 
block the street that bears its name. The south-east 
corner of the church extended to within a few feet 
of the entrance to the Royal Fountain Hotel, and it 
would be difficult for a cart to pass. What has 
been done in splaying off the east end of the church 
in three distinct sections is very apparent, and 
has made the street a passable thoroughfare. 
In the Grey Friars' estate, a long building once 
extended right across their island, from the river at 
the end of Beer Cart Lane to the stream over 
which now stands all that remains of the buildings. 
This interesting old erection of stonework and flint 
stands on pointed arches and slender columns in 
the water, and was once the residence of the poet 
Lovelace. This cavalier was evidently a man of 
grit, not easily discouraged, for when imprisoned 
for representing the gentlemen of Kent in petition- 
ing Parliament for the restoration of the bishops 
and the prayer book, he wrote the lines : — 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 105 

" Stone walls do not a prison make, 
Nor iron bars a cage ; 
Minds, innocent and quiet, take 
That for an hermitage/' 
He died in poverty in London, and it is to be 
hoped that the citizens of Canterbury will for many 
years be able to look upon the quaint old dwelling 
on the river with which he and the Friars were 
associated. 

Although the main gable walls and columns 
in the water appear to be of the same date, the 
building has seen many changes. Other buildings 
have stood against it on each of its long sides. 
The present house seems to be in two distinct 
portions ; what is now a middle wall was at one 
time the outside wall, and some of the timber 
framing yet remains. The first and second floors 
are not of equal pitch, and in all probability the 
top floor is a modern addition for the accommo- 
dation of Huguenot silk weavers, the roof timbers 
being open to view from the main room or hall 
on the first floor. It is perfectly certain that the 
Grey Friars' architect never intended the upper 
portion of his windows to be blocked by a floor, 
neither did he arrange for the position of the 
added chimneys. The main oak tie beams have 
been much mutilated, probably for the better fixing 
of the weaver's loom. It is very possible that one 
access to this river dwelling was by boat, the trap 
door above the water is still in existence. A stone 
sarcophagus has lately been discovered in the 
adjacent garden cemetery. 

Of the Black Friars' buildings, quite a number 
are evident. We have remaining at the present 
time the fine old strongly-built refectory on the 
one side of the river and a hall on the other. The 
plan shows a bridge connecting the buildings 



106 OLD CANTERBURY. 

nearly opposite what is now used as a chapel by 
the Unitarians ; traces of more than one bridge 
may yet be seen, but nothing more than traces. 

The White Friars' estate is shown enclosed by 
its walls on all sides, with the main buildings in 
the centre of the grounds. Small blocks of buildings 
in connection with it are drawn against its walls in 
Gravel Walk and in St. George's Lane. 

A considerable area is enclosed by the walls 
of the Castle, access to which was gained by a gate 
in Castle Street. A breach is left on the city side, 
which would lead one to suppose that about sixty 
feet of the wall had been removed or allowed to 
fall down. The walls of the castle yard are said to 
have been built of inferior material, and are of a 
much later date than the keep, which is built in the 
good old-fashioned way and could stand against 
assaults of the elements and war. 

Having mentioned a few of the principal fea- 
tures of this map, it might be well to note that 
some of the buildings one would naturally look for 
are missing, and among such, the Butter Market, 
the street crosses (including Barnacle Cross, Win- 
cheap), St. Mary Bredin's Church, the Quaker's 
Meeting House, and others are not here shown. 
The streets are not named, there is no writing or 
printing on this plan, the city's name is not men- 
tioned, and no date appears. 

BLACK FRIARS' ESTATE. 

A plan of the Black Friars as it was in 1595 
has been traced from the original by Miss E. Cole 
(107), and the following description is worthy of 
note. The quaint spelling may be seen on the 
plan. 

The property was of considerable extent, being 
bounded on the north-west by St. Peter's Lane, on 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 107 

the north by Mill Lane, on the east by King Street, 
and on the south by the Friars from Orange Street 
to St. Peter s Street, gateways being shown at the 
two latter points. 

The " churchy arde" extended from King Street 
to the river, and was very much larger than the 
present enclosed burying ground, which has been 
seen by comparatively few of the present inhabi- 
tants. On the "easte" nothing but a wall separated 
it from King Street, so that the dwellings on the 
"weste" side of the street are probably of more 
recent date than those on the opposite side. Be- 
tween the river and this burying ground, and 
separated by a wall, was a road extending from the 
Friars bridge to the church ; it is marked " the 
waie to the church," but at the present time there 
is no road here, and part of the ancient way has 
been built upon. On one side of the churchyard 
stood the longest and largest building of the quad- 
rangle forming what is shown as " Fryars' closter." 
All these buildings have long since disappeared 
except that forming the west boundary, portions, of 
which have been allowed to remain, notably the 
hall in which the Unitarians hold service. 

On the western side of the river is seen the. 
large building at present used for the storage of 
chairs and furniture ; for many years it did duty as 
a wool store. It is said that it formerly was the 
banqueting hall, a high sloping bridge communi- 
cating with the main block across the river, and 
giving access to the first floor. The plan shows 
this building to have stood on an island ; a stream 
running between the west end and St. Peter's Lane 
is shown so wide, that a bridge of three spans 
crossed the water. This stream has now entirely 
disappeared, but it is more than probable that its 
course is still marked under the ground between 



108 OLD CANTERBURY. 

the points where river water flows through an 
ornamental fish pond in the adjoining private 
garden to where an outlet pipe may be seen nearer 
the "Abbott's Milne." As many as four bridges 
are shown in this estate, but all have disappeared, 
and only the one we now know as the Friars' 
Bridge has been replaced. 

The plan shows St. Peter's Church and All 
Saints' Church, near which can be seen the mill 
and water-wheel which was such a block to the 
flood waters at King's Bridge. The " Rush Mar- 
kett " in Orange Street, " Broke Pot Lane " and 
" high Streate " are also shown ; the cardinal 
points are marked, and each is favoured with the 
final " e." The gateway to the Black Friars is 
shown in St. Peter's Street, and what is " Mead 
Lane " is marked " Gray Friars' way Stopped." 
Their own entrance, a fine old flint gateway which 
adjoined and came between Nos. 10 and n St. 
Peter's Street is simply marked " peter's gate." 

On one corner of the plan it reads : — 
" The description of the site of the house of late 
belonging unto the Friars preachers, otherwise 
called the black Friars in Canterbury as the same 
doth lye within the metes and bounded thereof 
draune and made the laste daye of September in 
the seaven and thirteth year of the raigne of our 
Soveraign Ladye Elizabeth and in the yeare of 
our lord god 1595. 

by Thomas Langdon." 
On the lower left-hand corner is probably the name 
of the publisher, and the date 1790: "I Rdson, 
Bond S*- (? Richardson) (107). 

CANTERBURY AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 

A Map, having written underneath in the 
margin, "A facsimile (reduced) of map found in St. 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 1 09 

Paul's Church, Canterbury," but without date, 
shows ~a crude bird's-eye view of the city in the 
north-west corner and the well-wooded country 
extending some four or five miles both east and south. 
Not much distinction is made between road and 
river, and although no doubt there is some accuracy 
in the position of what is named, it would be some- 
what difficult at the present day to follow all the 
roads as drawn. 

All the city gates are shown and the wall all 
around; no buildings are outside the protecting 
walls, except some few on the London Road, outside 
the city, St. Stephen's, St. Austin's, St. Martin's, 
and " The Mannour house of Longport,"iwith a con- 
siderable sheet of water. " Old parke " lands adjoin 
the latter estate and are shown as walled or fenced 
in on all the four sides of a square, with a large 
house in the centre. East of this and St. Martin's, 
is " Kin ge's Park," "Four head Cross" and "Turholt 
Wood." 

At " Ffysh poole " on the " Way to Sandwich" 
is shown a cross and "3 oakes out of one roote." 
About half a mile nearer the city is shown " Moat 
Gate," which would probably be intended to repre- 
sent the existing gateway in the " Lord's Wall " 
previously referred to. At a considerable distance 
from this gate to the north-east is shown "Mote 
howse " and a road leading straight to it from the 
gate. "Sturry and West Bier" are shown to have a 
church each, but not much more, but "Forde wiche" 
is quite a little town, and directly south of it is 
shown "Crosse and gallowes of Fordewich" both 
erections being drawn on the map. Near this is 
"King's tree" and Crabb tree," while near the 
latter is marked "Wyke Episcopi," " Abbatis," 
"Borral marke," "Wykescrosse," "Popler,""Trenly 
Park Gate," and in the south-east corner a church 



110 OLD CANTERBURY- 

without a name, probably intended for Littlebourne. 
Bridge Church is shown, and two men duelling with 
swords (108). 

CHERRY GARDEN PLAN. 

Two hundred years ago Dover Street evidently 
presented a different appearance from what it does 
to-day. A Mrs. Kitchell owned a " Chery Garden " 
there and had a plan prepared to show its extent. 
On this plan may be seen the shape of the land and 
all the cherry trees growing in lines like soldiers on 
parade. The way the fences are drawn is as 
interesting as the wording; they are shown like the 
small letter " m " continued ad infinitum, but where 
the palings did not belong to the aforesaid Mrs. 
Kitchell, the "m" is inverted, and the legend above 
reads "not our Palles." A scale is given of " 10 
Poles," and the extent of the garden is i acre 
i rood 4 perches. The writing is as follows : — 
" Dover Lane, a description of a Chery Garden 
adjoyning to Dover Lane, belonging to Mrs. 
Kitchell, owner of the same, neere St. Georges Gate 
by Tho. Hill 1680." Two Summerhouses (?) are 
shown, also a field gate in Dover Lane (109). 

CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL, A.D. 950. 

Since the remote days when a temple of some 
sort was first placed upon the site of our present 
Cathedral many drastic changes in the building 
have taken place. It might not be going too far 
to assert that this particular church has a more 
romantic history than the great Jewish Temple in 
the Holy City. Built and re-built in unsurpassed 
splendour, Solomon's masterpiece cannot be found 
to-day, although some idea of its magnificence 
may be gathered from the lovely polished marble 
shafts or columns that now do duty in the Moham- 
medan Mosque of Omar that to-day stands on that 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. Ill 

hallowed crest of Moriah, and actually encloses 
the bare rock upon which the priests slew the 
lowing cattle in sacrifice to Jehovah during the 
reign of the early Jewish kings. More of this 
lovely coloured marble may be seen in the Church 
of the Holy Sepulchre. Other similar columns 
are shown in the Mohammedan Mosque of St. 
Sophia in Constantinople, and are said to have 
been saved from the ruins of the Temple in Jeru- 
salem. It is only reasonable that such treasures 
should be secured, and they would naturally 
be sought out and reserved for future re- erection. 
Many of the stories told to travellers need a bit of 
caution, but there is no lithological objection to 
this one, as the life or duration of marble is not to 
be compared with the period in which man has 
walked upon the earth. 

Perhaps during the past two thousand years 
the voice of the worshipper has ascended from the 
precincts of the Cathedral of Christ Church. 
Druid, Pagan, Christian, Roman Catholic, Protes- 
tant : all in turn. Building has succeeded building, 
each time, perhaps, enclosing a greater area, and 
when the time came for the evolution of the roof, 
each roof surpassed the last in height. 

In A.D. 182 the Christian warriors of the 
Roman legions built their church, probably on the 
site of an older temple, and at the same time they 
built St. Martin's. These two churches were stand- 
ing in 449 on the arrival of the Saxons, and they 
would no doubt use them both for their Pagan rites. 
In 590 Queen Bertha attended St. Martin's for 
Christian worship, and seven years later Ethelbert 
was baptised by Augustine. The church, which 
then occupied the site of the present Cathedral 
nave, was presented to x\ugustine for Christian 
worship. It was then consecrated in the name of 



112 OLD CANTERBURY. 

our Saviour, Jesus Christ, and thus became the 
first English Cathedral. The "pall" arrived 
from Rome ; and Augustine became Metropolitan 
of the English Church. 

In a corner of the Precincts, until recently, stood 
the walls of a chapel, said to have been a Christian 
temple before the time of St. Augustine, consecrated 
by him, and dedicated to St. Pancras. Near this 
was a small chamber, supposed to have been 
Etheldred's Pagan chapel. 

Cuthbert, becoming Primate in 741, proceeded 
to construct a church to the east of the great 
church, and almost touching it. This was dedicated 
to St. John the Baptist. He "fabricated" this 
church for the purposes of baptism, for the holding 
of certain judicial trials, and for the interment 
therein of archbishops. The plan (no) dated 950 
shows this church. It was an octagon, approached 
from a small passage at the east end of the south 
aisle, and is termed "baptistery." 

The "great church" itself was a parallel oblong, 
the width being about equal to half the length. 
The well-known Roman apse is shown at both the 
east and west ends. North and south aisles were 
formed by seven pairs of square columns. The 
"choir" is screened on three sides by walls, and a 
similar screen stands before the chancel, pierced by 
a large central opening and two smaller openings 
at the sides. The only entrance to the building 
was through a square tower which formed a porch 
on the north side, while immediately opposite, on 
the south side, stood a rather larger square tower 
with a third apse on the east. The western apse is 
marked "LADY CHAP." and "bp's THRONE." 

This plan shows five altars, but no windows. 
There is an entire absence of buttresses and pro- 
jections, and no scale of feet is given to indicate 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 1 13 

dimensions. In 942 the roof was so "rotten from 
excessive age" that it was removed, and for three 
years during a miraculous local drought the walls 
were being raised to receive a new roof, which was 
covered with lead, the first of its kind in this 
country, so that the building shown on the plan 
dated 950 would be covered with this new lead roof. 
In 10 1 1 the Danes burned the cathedral and 
the city, but King Canute restored it. In 1043 the 
cathedral was again burned, and when the Abbot 
of St. Stephen's at Caen in Normandy was compelled 
to accept the archbishopric in 1070 he found the 
cathedral a shapeless mass of ruins. 

SITES OF MONASTIC BUILDINGS. 

An old plan showing the whole of the Cathedral 
Precincts, taking up nearly a quarter of the area of 
the city within the walls, gives an excellent idea of 
the buildings as they once stood (in). 

Outside the city wall with its five watch towers 
between Burgate and Northgate, is the " Church 
Dyke" and Broad Street, and against the Queenin- 
gate postern, is shown the bridge over the moat. 
This postern, right opposite the principle Gateway 
of St. Augustine's Monastery remains to-day. 

A building is indicated at the Burgate Corner, 
which might be intended to represent St. Michael's 
Church, with open land on three sides. 

Buildings are shown right through Burgate 
Street without a break. Christ Church Gate 
separates the latter from Sun Street, which is also 
shown to be fully occupied with buildings as far as 
the present passage way immediately west of the 
cloisters. This passage is shown open, and has 
evidently been curtailed in width and built over, 
forming a covered way, and it is evidently an ancient 
way. Houses are again shown in Palace Street, 



114 0LD CANTERBURY. 

also the site of the Palace and the existing gate 
house, which gave access to the "Archbishops' 
Precincts/' The "Convent Garden," the "old 
bowling green," and the Deanery garden " occupy 
positions against the Broad Street wall, whilst the 
"Forrins Gate," the "Old Brewery" (now the 
choristers' school room) the " Old Bakehouse," (now 
minor canons' residences) and the King's School 
take up the space against the wall between the 
Deanery and Northgate. 

In an old book published nearly a hundred and 
fifty years ago, we read — " Near the Cathedral is a 
free school, called the King's School." On the plan 
the Deanery is called " New Lodgyn " ; the Bishop 
of Dover's house is called " Old Guest Chambers." 
One canon's house is named " Meist. Omers." The 
Green Court is shown with the " Norman Stairs," 
the vaults of Almonry, and the Gatehouse, on the 
north-west corner, while on the south-west is shown 
the Larder Gate, leading to the existing stone steps 
that incline towards the east, on the way to the 
library. 

Among other buildings that are named might 
be mentioned the house for the " organist," several 
houses for " Canons," one for the Archdeacon of 
Maidstone," (with the old Infirmary Kitchen adjoin- 
ing) the " Abp's Palace, remains of," and the "Ruins 
of Infirmary." On the south of the Cathedral is 
shown the wall and gateway dividing the " Interior 
Cemetery" from the "Exterior Cemetery." The 
Grange is shown, also the Mint yard, but neither is 
named, although "The oaks" is plainly lettered in. 
The plan of the Cathedral itself is however perhaps 
of paramount interest. 

We are told that the fires of the Danes did not 
destroy the walls of this Roman cathedral and it 
was standing, a gaunt ruin, when Lanfranc appeared 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 115 

upon the scene. An examination soon found that 
the walls were not only damaged by a succession of 
fires and floods, but were completely unserviceable 
through the natural decay during past centuries. 

In the space of seven years, the old foundations 
were rased and the more noble cathedral practically 
built anew, and reconsecrated to the honour of the 
" Holy Trinity," but in the reign of Henry I. it 
was " dedicated again, by the name of Christ 
Church." 

Lanfranc's Cathedral is shown on this plan, ter- 
minating with an apse at the east end. Ernulf pulled 
down Lanfranc's east end and extended it further 
to the east ; the monk Conrad superbly completed 
what Ernulf began. On account of the splendour 
with which the choir was finished, it was called the 
" Glorious Choir of Conrad." This extension is 
showm on the plan, terminating with the square 
chapel, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and adjoining 
the semi-circular presbytery. In 1 174 the Cathedral 
was again destroyed by fire. William of Sens 
carried out the re-building for four years till he fell 
with the centreing, which he called a "machine" for 
the fixing of the groining, in 1 1 78. English William 
completed the work and made the east end extend 
still further into the cemetery, in order to build the 
Chapel of St. Thomas in 1180. 

The Corona was dedicated to the Virgin and 
subsequently became known as " Becket's Crown." 
This last alteration is also shown on the plan. In 
addition to those already mentioned, the sites of the 
following buildings in connection with the monastery 
are indicated on this valuable record, Prior's 
Mansion, Campanile, Infirmary Cloister, Cellarer's 
Lodgings, Frater, Buttery, Great Dormitory, 
Convent Kitchen, Cellarer's Hall, and Almonry 
Chapel. 



Il6 OLD CANTERBURY. 

PLAN OF CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 

This valuable plan drawn and measured by the 
late Mr. George Smith is in itself a remarkable 
record, not only of the buildings constituting the 
cathedral and monastic erections, but what is of 
infinite importance, the periods at which each 
portion came into existence (112). 

Lanfranc left very little, if anything, of the 
previous erections, and this plan shows by an 
ingenious method of shading, as many as eleven 
different periods in the construction of the exquisite 
" glory in stone" as we see and know it to-day. 

Beginning with Norman work which is quite 
black, and is not known to be Lanfranc's, there 
follow in different degrees of shading, the work 
done by Lanfranc himself, the Romanesque, William 
of Sens, English William, 13th century, 14th century, 
15th century, Post Reformation, Uncertain, and 
Present century (the nineteenth). 

A most interesting feature of the plan is the 
shading of the internal cores of the great columns 
or piers which carry not only the central tower or 
Angel Steeple, but the inner piers of the western 
towers. This indicates that when the present tower 
as we know it, was erected, the builders encased the 
Norman work, which would naturally account for 
the ponderous piers carrying in so graceful a 
manner the tremendous weight of Bell Harry 
Tower. The height of Lanfranc's tower would 
probably not be great when the Angel Steeple 
rested upon it. The interior masonry points to the 
fact that the upper part of the tower was raised at 
a later period. 

Until seen on this plan, it is not generally 
known that the cathedral is not perfectly straight 
from east to west. It was found that the nave was 
built to one central line, but the choir centre inclined 



ANCIENT CITY PLANS. 117 

slightly to the south, and the retro-choir through 
Trinity Chapel and Becket's Crown inclined still 
more to the south, making three distinct lines, which 
Mr. Smith terms " Angles of Orientation," and 
shows upon his plan. 

That the Cloisters were not built in the form of 
a true square, is very evident from the alternating 
obtuse and acute angles. 

That there are all sorts of obscure passages, 
chambers, odd corners, and surprises not shown to 
the ordinary visitor, is strikingly apparent when an 
examination of the plan is carefully made. Some 
people know where to locate three or four of the 
spiral stone stairways, but few could find their way to 
the twelve or more such sets of steps that are 
plainly marked upon the plan. Galleries, balconies, 
secret chambers, small windows, and even fire places 
and chimneys can be pointed out. 

We read of the Feast of Fools, and how the 
monks for three days every year gave themselves 
up to fun and boisterous merriment, which con- 
sisted chiefly in ridiculing all things sacred. This 
went on till in 1367 Archbishop Langham put a 
stop to it, lest, as he said, " the house of prayer 
becomes a house of sport." That the monks were 
not always in a serious frame of mind is evident 
from the grotesque, absurd, and what in this day 
would be termed most improper carvings and 
representations which can be observed in somewhat 
obscure positions. 

The object of this short notice of Mr. Smith's 
plan of the Cathedral is to point out enough of 
that which is so fascinating a study as to induce 
those interested to examine his work for themselves. 
The plan is drawn to a scale of about twenty-eight 
feet to the inch, and in the book entitled " Chrono- 
logical History of Canterbury Cathedral," there 



Il8 OLD CANTERBURY. 

should be not only a copy of this plan, but one of 
the crypt, and another of the monastic buildings. 

Perhaps there is hardly a country in the world 
that has not been under tribute to either the struc- 
ture or the shrines of our noble cathedral. Not 
only gold and silver, jewels and precious stones, 
but choice marbles and jaspers have been given by 
foreign potentates, popes, archbishops, and others. 

It is interesting to remember that when Arch- 
bishop Baldwin in 1184 became a bitter enemy to 
the monks he determined to move his chair from 
the cathedral to another church where he could 
have a chapter of secular clergy. He chose St. 
Stephen's, and began to enlarge that church. 
Obtaining the sanction of the Pope, his college for 
secular canons was actually built at Hackington. 
After great opposition it was agreed that this new 
college should be demolished. Baldwin, however, 
did not abandon his project, but determined to 
remove the canons away from Canterbury, and 
secured the manor of Lambeth in exchange for 
some lands belonging to the Canterbury See, and 
here, with the building material that formed the 
useless Hackington College, which he conveyed 
by water up the Thames, he built the college at 
Lambeth. 

Although the Archbishop's Palace at Canter- 
bury lay waste for so many years, it is a matter for 
thankfulness that our prelates have decided to 
spend at least a portion of their time in our midst 
once more. Lambeth is doubtless better situated 
in the heart of the empire for the great administra- 
tion of the national Church, but it is to be hoped 
that for many centuries yet to come the prelate 
may choose to be reckoned among the citizens of 
Old Canterbury. 



INDEX. 



Abbot's Milne, 108 
Agnes Wickfield, 15 
Alchemist's tower, 27 
All Saints' Church, 103 
Ammonites, 4 
Ancient bridges, 52 
Ancient river beds, 6 
Angelo Castle, 17 
Angel Lane, 17 
Angel Steeple, 41 
Angles of Orientation, 1 1 7 
Archbishop's Palace, 117 
Archbishop's Precincts, 1 14 
Arm of the sea, 7 
Arms of the City, 56 
Assembly Rooms, 25 
Aucher Villas, 79 
Augustine Friars, 24 

Baldwin's College, 117 
Barnacle Cross, 97 
Barracks, 34 
Bathing, 64 
Battle of Bosenden, 62 
Bellarmine jar, 20 
Bennett, Lieut., 62 
Best Lane, 15 
Bethersden marble, 32 
Bishop's head, 44 
Binnewyth Island, 26 
Black Dvkc, 64 
Black Mill, 28 
Black Friars, 1 05 
Black Friars' Gate, 92 
Blue Coat School, 80 
Boats in streets, 50 
Bowling Green, 114 
Boy sweepers, 67 
Bread ovens, 78 
Break Pot Lane, 1 7 
Brick-earth, 7 
Brickwork in Tower, 40 
Bridges, 96 
British School, 14 
Broad Street, 90 
Bronze Age, 10 
Building on Piles, 10 
Butchery Lane, 17 
Butter Market,. 79 
Bye-laws, 68 

Caen stone, 2 
Cambium Regis, 19 
Campanile, 94 



Canterbury, 900 B.C., ir, 96 

Castle, 97 

Castle Water Co., 83 

Cathedral history, 38, 114, 117 

Cathedral in 950 A.D ,112 

C.C.C., 52 

Celts, 10, 11 

Chalk quarry, 33 

Chalk walls, 25 

Chalk incline, 3 

Chalk formation, 4 

Changeable weather, 70 

Charles II coin, 37 

Chemin de Fer du Nord, 75 

" Chery " garden, no 

Chimneys, 67 

Chimney corners, 67, 87 

Choughs, 56 

Christ Church, 115 

Church Dyke, 113 

Cinerary urns, 47 

City wall, 45 

City, 13th century, 92 

Claims of St. Margaret's, 99 

Cloister angles, 117 

Closing ancient ways, 16 

Coaching davs, 48 

Cold Bath Cottage, 81 

Colossal lizards, 2 

Condition of Cathedrals, 43 

Conduit, 103 

Conglomerate flint, 45 

Conrad's Choir, 115 

Constantine coin, 30 

Cottage Barracks, 34 

Courtenay, Sir William, 61 

Covered streams, 107 

Covered ways, 16, 113 

Cricketers, 71 

Crust of the earth, 8 

Cupboard skeletons, 21 

Curl heaters, 53 

Cycles, 73 

Dadoed walls, 24 
Damascened dagger, 20 
Damp walls, 25 
Dane John Manor, 31 
Dane John Academy, 72 
Dane John Mound, 31, 98 
Danes, 113 
Dangerous wells, 49 
David Copperfield, 15 
Dean Alford, ^8 



INDEX. 



Denudation. 6 
De Swarte Hengst, 54 
Devil's Passage, 104 
Devil's talons, 100 
Dickens, 14 
Diverted roads, 48 
Doulting stone, 41 
Dover Street, 95, no 
Dry river beds, 6 
Duke of York, 30, 102 
Dutch pipes, 20 
Dutch tiles, 54 
Dutch horses, 54 

Earl of Chatham, 103 
Early motors, 73 
Early suburbs, 97 
Early worship, 1 1 1 
Education, 72 
Effects of rain, 6, 50 
Elm and oak, 10 
Encased Norman work, 1 16 
Erasmus, 43 
Ernulf's building, 115 
Estuary, 7 
Ethelbert Road, 29 
Ethelbert's model, 38 

Fancy dagger, 20 

Fatal duel, 33 

Faulty Caen stone, 41 

Feast of Fools, 1 1 7 

First Post Office, 77 

First lead roof, 1 1 3 

Fish Market, 80 

Fish Pool, 109 

Flint-lined wells, 16 

Flints, 4, 9 

Floods, 115 

Font, 37 

Foraminifera, 3 

Fords, 97 

Fordwich gallows. 109 

Forty Acres, 14 

Fossil fish, 8 

Fourteenth century house, 85 

Freneh ironwork, 35 

Free School, 114 

Frugal Mrs. S., 77 

Fuller Pilch, 71 

Gaberdene, 70 
Gabled houses, 19 
Gallows Green, 16 
Gaps in wall, 103 
Gates and Posterns, 93, 94 
Gibraltar Rock, 33 



Gigantic Saurians, 2 
Gilded Angel, 41 
Go-cart 74 
Golden trinkets, 46 
Good old times, t>6 
Goods for London, 59 
Gravel banks, b 
Green court gate 93 
Great Mill, 52 
Great unwashed, 66 
Grey Friars, 104 
Gridiron torture, 33 
Guildhall Street, 48 

Hackington College, 118 
Hengist, 56 
High Street, 13 
High Street fire, 16 
Highwaymen, 59 
Hollow turrets, 40 
Holy Trinity Church, 115 
Holy Cross, 26 
Hop oasts, 31 
Horse bells, 70 
Hoy for London, 76 
Huguenots, 57 

Ice Wells, 37 
Idol worship, 100 
Invicta, 5b 
Invicta engine, 102 
Ironstone, 8 
Ironwork in stone, 41 

James 1st, 54 
Jewry Lane, 60 
Jews' Cemetery, 14 
Jews' Meat, 60 
Jews' Synagogue, 60, 97 
John Bull, 71 
Jurassic, 2 

Kent Crest, 56 
Kentish Warriors, 56 
King's Bridge Ford, 26 
King's Bridge Mill, 104 
King's Exchange, 19 
King's Idol, 100 
King's Park, 109 
Knight's head, 44 
Kosher, 60 

Lambeth, 117 
Langton Schools, 72 
Langton Tomb, 39 
Laths and plaster, 89 
L. C. and D. R., 32 



INDEX. 



Lead needles, 58 
Lead roof, 113 
Lion Hotel, 48 
Locomotion, 73 
Lovelace, poet, 104 
London clay, 9 
London via Whitstable, 76 
Longport Manor, 109 
Lord's wall, 74 

Man and oxen in bog, 42 
Manwood, Sir Roger, 44 
Martyrs' Cross, 98 
Mathematical tiles, 21 
Mead Lane, 108 
Mears policeman, 62 
Medal, Bartholomew, 57 
Middle Row, 103 
Military gate guard, 95 
Mint, 19 
Moat Farm, 65 
Moat House, 109 
Moats, 46, 90, 103 
Modern Schools, 72 
Monastic Buildings, 113 
Monks' Cook, 55 
Monks' Fish Pond, 94 
Mules Cavalcade, 59 

Nackington House, 35 
Natural History, 72 
Neolithic Age,' 10 
Newingate, 93, 95 
Nine-hundred B.C., 96 
North Lane Station, 74 
Norman Castle, 97 

Oak and elm, 10 

Obstructions in High Street, 103 

Ochre deposit, 8 

Old Dover Road, 28 

Old Forge House, 37 

Old House rebuilt, 91 

Old Park, 109 

Old Theatre, 79 

Old Wells, 46 

Oldest house, 17 

Oldest English city, 57 

Open spaces, 103 

Order of strata, 6 

Our Model tower, 39 

Oyster shell joint, 87 

Pagan Chapel, 100, 112 
Palaeolithic Age, 8 
Pancrasius, 100 
Paper for Decoration, 53 



Perambulators, 74 
Peter's gate, 108 
Periods of buildings, 116 
Pin Hill, 46 
Plague, 64 

Plan of Cathedral, no, lib 
Plan of City, 101 
Plastering, 89 
Poisoned Bishop, 39 
Police hats, 70 
Policeman's brother, 62 
Pollard, Mr., House, 23 
Poor Priests' Hospital, 80 
Porous bricks, 24 
Primitive man, 9 
Prison (old), 14 
Puckle Lane, 33 
Purbeck marble, 2 

Quakers' Cemetery, 14 
Queeningate Lane, 94 
Queen Anne, 35 
Quagmire grave, 42 

Ragged School, 79 
Railway banks, 5 1 
Ramsgate Cliffs, 12 
Rats Row, 31 
Relics in moat, 91 
Rhodaus town, 31 
River fall and silt, 7, 50, 51 
Roman Arch, 102 
Roman Christians, 1 1 1 
Roman Mill stone, 45 
Roman burial, 48 
Roman skeletons, 30 
Roman tiles, 55 
Roof tiles, 89 
Rooke, Sir George, ^ 
Royal Arms, 56 
Royal Museum, 11 
Rush Market, 16 

Salesmen's offices, 45 
Salted provisions, 65 
Samian ware, 46 
Sand mines, 7 
Saxon arch, 44 
Saxon burial, 48 
School of Art, 72 
Scotland Hills, 82 
Scurvy, 65 
.Sea breezes, 12 
Seasons, 69 
Sepulchral urn, 35 
Sessions House, 98 
Sharks' teeth, 8 



Shell beds, 7 

Sheppard, Dr., 29 

Shingles, 89 

Signs, 26 

Silk Hats, 70 

Silk Weavers, 58 

Skating, 69 

Skeleton in wall, 20 

St. Andrew's Church, 103 

St. Edmund's Church, 44, 98 

St. George's Church, 25 

St. George's gate tanks, 83 

St. George's gate guard, 95 

St. George's Place, 95 

St. George's Turret, 103 

St. John the Baptist, 112 

St. John le Poor, 98 

St. Lawrence, 33, 99 

St. Michael's Church, 93, 98 

St. Michael's Chapel, 39 

St. Margaret's, 99, 104 

St. Martin's, 99 

St. Maryde Castro, 98 

St. Mary Queeningate, 99 

St. Pancras, 100 

St. Paul's Church map, 108 

St. Radigund's baths, 81 

St. Stephen's, 43 

St. Sepulchre's, 32, 99 

Smeaton's Mill, 52 

Smith's City plan, 10 1 

Snow clearing, 69 

Solar origin, 3 

Springs and wells, 82, 84 

Star Hotel, 80 

Statues of Kings, 38 

Stone friezes, 32 

Stone Celts, 10 

Stone Street Road, 3 

Storm water, 51 

Stour, 51, 96 

Subterranean passage, 23 

Swede turnip, 65 

Sweep's machine, 68 

Sword cases, 74 

Tax on windows, 65 
Telescope to reservoir, 83 
Tertiaries, I 
Thin bricks, 88 
Thunder and hail, 5 1 
Three years' drought, 1 13 
Timder house, 22 



Timber covered wells, 49 
Tinder box, 85 
Toll gates, 13 
Tomb of Langton, 39 
Tower House, 15 
Towers and walls, 93 
Toy shop, 26 
Trade signs, 26 
Tunnel, 76 

Unitarian Chapel, 106 
Uriah Heep, 15 
Underground passages, 23 

Vanes on Cathedral, 42 
Velocipedes, 73 
Volcanic action, 5 
Venice, 2b 
Valerian, 34, 46 
Ventilation, 67 

Wasted ^4000, 96 

Wallpaper, 53 

Walloons, 57 

Walls and towers, 93 

Watchmen, 79 

Water locks, 104 

Water mills, 97 

Water in moat, 51, 91 

Water pillars, 82 

Water supply, 12, 82, 83 

Water works, 83 

Watling Street, 96 

Wattle and daub, 90 

" Wellcome " stone, 30, 102 

Wellch, Mr., 32 

Westbere Deanery, 37 

Westgate, 96, 101 

Wharves, 96 

Wheel loft, 40 

White Friars, 23, 106 

Whitstable^Railway, 75 

Wig curlers, 53 

Window tax, 65 

Wine Market, 97 

Workman's bills, 53 

Worn steps in tower, 40 

Worthgate, 102 

Wooden Conduit, 82 

«* Ye old Forge," 37 

Zoar Chapel, 83 



